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There's nothing more rewarding than being your own boss. If you want to get into business and pursue a career that you'll truly love, then you need to grab the eduCBA Business and Entrepreneurship Lifetime Subscription Bundle. It contains all the keys you need to succeed, and you can get it on sale now for 96 per cent off the retail price! If you're interested in launching your very own business or just learning how to climb the ladder at your current job, you'll find information that will help you succeed in the eduCBA Business and Entrepreneurship Lifetime Subscription Bundle. This massive collection of courses contains over 900 lessons and 1,500 hours of content that you can access any time. Learn about sales, marketing, management, daily operations, and much more The eduCBA Business and Entrepreneurship Lifetime Subscription Bundle usually retails for $797, but you can save 96 per cent off that price right now. That means you pay just $29 (approx. £21) for a great bundle that could launch your own business, so grab this deal today! Related articles: How to design for startups The 16 best startup logos 8 essential tips for launching a startup company View the full article

You could be the best creative director, with the best design portfolio in the world, but it might not make a difference to a client who likes to play it safe. As part of a series from Computer Arts, the team at London-based branding and communication studio NB provide some top advice on how to get clients to take more risks when it comes to branding strategies. 01. Involve the client early "When you've got a new client, it's all about earning trust," says NB co-founder Alan Dye. "We like to get clients on board very early on so they're part of the creative process. You get a better result than you would just presenting a concept to them. it makes it their concept as well as your concept." 02. Problem-solve together Throughout the project, work collaboratively through the issue, problem or question set out by the client. "We'll start with a workshop, or several workshops," says NB co-founder Nick Finney. "Whereas in the past we might have been able to sketch something and think, 'it's going to be that,' nowadays, you have to keep an open mind and work with your client towards an end goal." 03. Ask a lot of questions "When we get a brief, we start questioning what we've been set," adds Dye. "You ask a lot of 'why' questions and generally end up rewriting the brief with the client, making it better by finding out what they really want." 04. Open communication channels "Clients are people as well. They've got their own ambitions for their role and what they want to achieve," points out brand strategist Tom Moloney. "Build up your relationship so that they can say, 'Oh, I'm having trouble with X from this department.' Keep those channels open. It works both ways, because you can then show half-formed thoughts and have discussions. You can have a much more open and honest conversation." 05. Know when to walk away "For Tom and I, the most difficult part of our job is saying, 'Maybe we shouldn't be working with this client. Maybe we shouldn’t get into a relationship with them,'" reflects Moloney's fellow brand strategist Dan Radley. "We're best when we're working with people who are really enlightened and have a bit of courage themselves." This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 252 in 2016. Check out the Computer Arts' YouTube channel for more video insight into leading design studios, or subscribe to the magazine here. Related articles: 6 things to know about getting freelance clients 8 of the most successful independent design studios Launch a world-class design studio with the 'three Fs' View the full article

The GandCrab ransomware continues to virulently spread and adapt to shifting cyber-conditions, most recently crawling back into relevance on the back of several large-scale spam campaigns. View the full article

As an independent creative professional, and because of the number of hours per day I work, I face the very real potential for burning out. The secret of avoiding burnout isn't luck, it's a deliberate decision to keep the fire burning. Burnout is a state of total exhaustion that not only effects you emotionally, but also physically and mentally. It happens when you work yourself too hard. It also happens as a result of being stressed for long periods of time. It doesn't matter whether you're working from home or as the creative director of a big agency, burnout evaporates your motivation. To put it simply, burnout sucks the life out of you. Watch your stress levels Stress might very well be unavoidable. There are times when our careers and our personals lives crash in such a way that we feel stressed. For example, imagine your boss or client is expecting the project you've been working on to be done this weekend. That same weekend, your relative is having a big birthday party they've been planning for months, and the family is expecting you to not only be there, but to host the party. What do you do? Maybe you're lucky. Maybe this is a rare thing. But imagine you're faced with demanding work deadlines and demanding family responsibility or other stressors all of the time. If left unchecked, this stress can lead to burnout. But it doesn't have to be family vs. work. Work vs. work is a thing too. Dealing with tight deadlines and heavy workloads time and time again can lead to burnout. Taking on new responsibilities at work can be a good thing, but taking on too much can lead to burnout. How to avoid burnout Stress, heavy workloads and daily responsibilities cannot always be avoided, but protecting yourself from burnout isn't impossible. Small changes might be all it takes to keep that fire burning. Over the years, and after a few burnouts of my own, I've come up with some techniques to keep myself in check. So far, so good. 01. Take breaks Weather permitting, I try to walk for at least two hours a day. That may seem excessive, but I work long hours and this is a relatively small amount of time in the scheme of things. For me, those two hours (which sometimes are not always consecutive) allow me to recharge my batteries. For you, it could be as simple as making sure you take a 15- or 30-minute walk at lunchtime or before work. 02. Be kind to yourself Be nice to yourself. Sometimes you can't always do as much as you need/want/think you can do in one day. It's okay. It doesn't mean you're a failure. It may, however, mean you've agreed to do to much. It can also mean that you didn't manage your time properly. If that's the case, find out how to fix that problem; don't waste your energy beating yourself up. 03. Learn to say no A friend recently told me that 'No' is complete sentence, and 'Hell no' is a full paragraph. This advice couldn't be more spot on. Limiting your responsibilities is an important part of avoiding burnout. The bottom line is: don't take on more than you can handle, and if you do, see if you rearrange things so that you're not doing too much. 04. Be sociable This one seems kind of obvious, right? Humans are meant to have connections; without them, bad things have a tendency to happen. If you don't have time to be sociable – and by that we mean seeing people in real life, not just online – adjust your schedule. Build in enough free time that you can spend it with your friends and family. 05. Be mindful of your health Okay. I won't lie. This next one feels a bit hypocritical for me since I don't necessarily practice what I preach here. That being said, it's important to eat right, sleep right and exercise. Like a well-oiled machine, the human body runs a lot better when its owner takes care of it. At least that's what my mum keeps telling me. Related articles: 5 tips for taking guilt-free holidays as a freelancer 10 stress relief gadgets The expert guide to working from home View the full article

Apple, Microsoft, Red Hat and others have built an uncannily similar privilege escalation flaw into their Intel-based products. View the full article

Layout for the web has always been limited, there really has never been anything truly dedicated to making content easy to display in a format that makes sense. Back in the '90s when the web first took hold, designers who were used to laying out content on a grid, found the only way to get the same result in the browser was to use the table. Merging cells led to complex website layouts, but this played havoc with accessibility and SEO. Fast forward and today there are all manner of ways to place content with floats, flexible boxes and so on. CSS3 has really pushed the capabilities of the web forward and since 2014 there has been CSS Grid Layout. This currently has 75 per cent browser support, so it’s getting to the point when it’s time to give it serious consideration. Zurb’s Foundation 6 framework has got on board and is using that to power its grid. This tutorial will focus on creating a magazine-style feature that will show you how to perfect responsive web design for medium and small screen sizes. Download the tutorial files here 01. Get started Open the file ‘grid1.html’ from the start folder in the project files. The HTML layout for this has five div tags, simply named item1–5 as CSS classes. These will be the content placed into the grid. The container wrapping this will define the grid, which will have four columns. 02. Check CSS for the grid Looking in the head section you can see that the 'container' has been told to be laid out as a grid, with auto height for the rows, while the columns are to be set to four with each set to 25 per cent of the browser. Check this in the browser and you will see that each item is automatically assigned the next available grid position. 03. Define grid positions Now take a look at the 'grid2.html' file. It's the same as the first file, except 'item1' and 'item2' are given specific positions. The first is positioned in row 1 and ends before row 2. The column starts at 1 and ends at 3 so it spans two columns. The second starts at column 3 and takes the next two columns. The remaining items fill the next available grid slots. 04. Use a grid template Open 'grid3.html' and look at the body of the HTML. You'll see that there is a layout with a header, sidebar, main content section and a footer. You can add more text into the content to see what happens when this is placed in. The grid will use a template feature to make these sections into a layout. 05. Define the template Look at the CSS for the container. It is again defined as a grid. The top row will be 200px high, the middle will be auto-sized and the last row will be 100px high. The columns are set to be 33 per cent wide and to autofill the rest. The template states the header will fill both columns. The next row will be the sidebar in the first column and the content in the next. The footer goes across both. A simple webpage layout is created using the grid-template-areas to define that the header and footer span two columns, while the sidebar and webpage content take up one column each 06. Link the template to the class To link up the class to the template, the code shown here defines this. Each grid area is named and the link is created. The content isn't shown here, but it's in the 'grid3.html' document. Look at this in the browser to see the layout of the grid. Because two columns are defined, the template needs two areas in each of the inverted commas. 07. Make it responsive To make 'grid3.html' responsive, a media query is inserted and the top row is kept at 200 per cent, while the remaining rows will automatically be sized. There is only one column, the full width, so the template has one word in each inverted comma to define the layout. These can easily be reordered without shifting any of the HTML. By simply redefining the grid layout in a media query all the elements can reflow with just a few adjustments 08. Work on a real layout Now open 'index.html' – all of the HTML for the content has already been created, as has some of the CSS for the design elements. Add this grid to the style tags in the head section. Doing so creates a three-column grid with the template for each section. Note the full-stop for the empty grid sections. 09. Link up the template As with the previous step, this links the header with the template. The header is told to span all three columns of the grid, then the standfirst is set to take two columns and have an empty column on the left. If you check the browser, that column is filled because the remaining content autofills the next available space – it won't do this when it's all set up, however. 10. Add the next areas Now the first article, the pull quote and the focus image are placed into the design. The pull quote and image are side by side on the same row. At this stage, article2 hasn't been placed so it's taking the first available space on the grid which is next to the standfirst. When the first grid is finished, the design fits just right on a desktop display, even fitting in well with background image elements 11. Finish the first grid Adding the second article's CSS enables all of the first grid to be placed correctly. Looking at this in the browser will show that the layout works with the background image and creates the kind of layout seen in magazines, where the designer works around a large background image. 12. Add a white background Before starting the second grid, you may wonder why there is a need for two grids. The reason being is that this grid is going to have a white full width background so this CSS will wrap the second grid. This is to give this section the feeling of a second page in the design. 13. Make a second grid The second grid is simpler than the first. There are three columns, with an automatic height on the rows. The content is going to fill a column each so there is no need to define the template areas. However, when the tablet design is added, this needs to switch to two columns, so a reflow is required and the names will be important. With both grids placed on the screen, the design can be scrolled through as everything is in the correct order 14. Add the columns Each of the CSS classes in the second grid is told to link up with the relevant column, as defined in the grid template. The article text colour is changed just to make it stand out against the lighter background of this section. With only the footer to complete, the design of the magazine-style layout is almost in place. 15. Perfect the foot of the page Finishing off the page will place a full width div across the screen, which will be filled with a black colour and the text is just centred. This completes the desktop version of the design, but move the screen down below 1200px wide and the site starts to break. 16. Adjust for medium screen design A media query is inserted here to look after the design when the width of the browser is less than 1200px. The code for Steps 17 and 18 will be placed inside the brackets where the comment is. This will be a case of changing both of the grids' layout structure. 17. Reflow the first grid The first grid is set to now fill the full width of the browser with just two columns instead of three. The order of the sections is placed into the template, with the articles switching sides, since this fits in better with the background image at this screen size. The tablet-sized design is in place with just a reflow of both of the grids on the page. Adjusting these grids is one of the easiest ways to redesign for smaller screens 18. Test your layout The second grid is also resized to take the full width of the browser and two columns added. The images are placed side by side on the row above the text so that it fits neatly onto the display. You can test this layout in the browser by resizing your browser below 1200px width. 19. Tweak design for mobile Any browser that has a width of less than 769px will get the code that is added in the final steps. All we need to do here is ensure that each of the grids has a single column layout so that the content can be viewed properly within the smaller space. 20. Check single column grid Now the first grid is set to a single column of 100 per cent of the browser's width and the order of the sections is added in the template areas. Check to see how the first part of the page is working on mobile screens. Just telling the grids to have one column is virtually all that needs to be changed for mobile screens 21. Finish the layout Here, the second grid is also made to fill a single column and the layout of sections is defined. Now save the finished design and view it across different-sized screens to see the full layout capability of the CSS Grid and how easy it was to just reorder the content for different widths. This article was originally published in creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 271 or subscribe. Related articles: 5 tips for super-fast CSS Understanding the CSS display property How to create a pyramid layout with CSS Shapes View the full article

When we looked at last year's CorelDRAW Graphics Suite it was the new features added that stood out the most. Notably, the LiveSketch tool which is an innovative line drawing solution for designers and illustrators that want to bypass producing thumbnails on paper and freely sketch-out vector art at the source. LiveSketch's functionality really shines when using a small surface area tablet, where smaller gestures can hamper fluid line drawing. Acknowledging its positive reception amongst users, Corel has made further under-the-hood improvements to this unique drawing tool for the 2018 edition. Buy CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2018 Other quality-of-life enhancements to existing tools include usability improvements to Fills and Transparency management – now you can delete and mark favourites to filter out unwanted swatches. The Envelope tool (which functions like the Photoshop Warp Transform) has seen several improvements too – users can now distort grouped vector and imported bitmaps. Plus, the Copy envelope properties option duplicates existing envelope settings from within the document – cutting out the need to repeat the same manipulation, which is handy when creating mock-ups. These are all welcome updates certainly, and by no means the sum total of improvements to existing features, but let's take a look at CorelDRAW's new toys... Fresh features of CorelDRAW 2018 Corel has always favoured a more measured and incremental approach when making updates to its software. Where other developers can sometimes add new bewildering features and overburden their flagship software, Corel prefers to give users a smaller set of very defined tools. This approach to development often manifests existing tools found elsewhere in other creative apps (with a Corel twist, of course) or as solutions that combine a subset of common tasks into a one-click tool. CorelDRAW 2018 offers a bit of both. Kicking things off is the Block Shadow effect, which generates an instant 3D extruded shadow to type and objects. You can opt to input values into the Properties bar to manage the effect, but the drag-and-draw tool method is impressively quick and intuitive to use. A nice detail with the drag-tool is a colour picker pop-up for the shadow hue, though being able to apply gradients here also would be a welcome addition in the future. We can see this tool becoming a huge timesaver when creating infographics. Results with the Block Shadow tool are instantaneous, with the effect respecting keylines assigned to the target typeface The next standout feature is the Impact tool which generates speed-lines and bursts commonly associated with traditional comics and manga art. The effect is non-destructive and defined as either Parallel or Radial. You can edit line weights, line style and wide point position, start and end widths and spacing steps. Even with a starting set of only two editable lines, the variation once you begin altering these parameters offers some pleasant results. Saving the best for last, there's the new Symmetry drawing mode, which allows artists and designers to build up drawings and create designs quickly by mirroring a drawn path and/or object(s). Anyone familiar with Corel's powerful real-paint emulator Painter will recognise similarities to the Kaleidoscope tool. You can edit the number of Mirror lines and source angle, while using a mix of elements including objects with varying patterns and transparency settings. Symmetry drawing is a fitting example of what to expect from CorelDRAW 2018's newly implemented tools – they're all familiar yet practical additions A nice inclusion is the ability to add a new object to the symmetry group by clicking 'W' when you drag the new shape over the active symmetry area. This has real-time results. Again, it's one of those tools that once you adopt it into your workflow, you begin to see the timesaving benefits, and it can be a good starting point for generating designs or kicking off elements within a composition. It's these new features and improvements that call us to bang the same drum as we did last year and ask Corel to make CorelDRAW an affordable standalone option. Read more: 95 tutorials on how to draw View the full article

Freelance life can be enormously rewarding, but it's not always easy. You have full freedom to choose everything from your clients to your working hours, but you're also responsible for everything else. You're your own boss, and you can work from a coffee shop or even a beach if you want. In most cases, you can charge more. Sometimes a lot more. But to offset that, there's no holiday pay or sick pay. You have to bring in every bit of work yourself. And handle all that pesky admin too – like invoices and tax returns. To help you out on this exciting, but also daunting, journey of independence, we've gathered together a collection of content to assist on everything from managing your finances to getting yourself out there. So read on for our essential guide to how to succeed as a freelancer. If we haven't covered a particular burning question for you, fear not – we will continue to add to this collection with more invaluable freelance advice each month. 01. Business advice for freelancers 02. Self-promo advice for freelancers 03. Portfolio advice for freelancers View the full article

Learning how to draw with mixed media is not easy. However, experimenting and combining various materials for original mixed media art can be hugely rewarding (not to mention fun). In this tutorial I'll be creating a piece inspired by The NeverEnding Story, with the spirit of the Golden Age. You can see the final artwork below. I'll mostly be using graphite, so you'll learn some key pencil drawing techniques, but I'll also show you how to apply gold leaf to add a special touch to your work. Click the icon in the top right to see the full-size artwork The illustrators of the Golden Age, the Symbolist painters and the Pre-Raphaelites have all influenced my art. There's a wide palette of emotions in these images tinted with lyricism and sprinkled with symbolism. I've been working with graphite and gold leaf for many years now, creating bright ornamentations or golden backgrounds. This approach enables me to create the illusion of depth, despite the two dimensional canvas. I like to add a natural touch, symbolised by the petals that I fasten on paper. 01. Start sketching Producing rough sketches enables me to visualise on paper the image I've mentally built up. It's an interesting step that highlights the limits of my materials. In contrast, there are no limits in my mind: I can change the shape, colour and proportions of objects. It's now time to choose an idea and confirm that my intuition is correct. 02. Consider the composition Composition is an art unto itself, a domain where you can play with shapes and guide the viewer. Everything must serve the idea. You have to give the illusion of life on a two-dimensional canvas. To check that the composition is working, I use gold paint to indicate where the gold leaf will eventually be placed. This saves time – and money – later on. 03. Prepare the paper Because I plan to use a graphite wash technique, I need to stretch my sheet of paper to prevent it from crinkling. I soak the back of the paper, then flip it over and fasten it with strips of kraft. As it dries, the paper will shrink and take its final dimensions. 04. Generate a detailed drawing My art process always involves developing an initial sketch, which will be loose, enabling me to develop the composition as I see fit without any limitations. I organise the primary elements, and this gives an impulse, a movement, to the scene. I use pencils ranging from 3H to H. 05. Establish an atmosphere I create an atmosphere using a graphite wash. This stage has two functions: it helps to get me into the topic, and it defines the lighter areas of the illustration. I prefer to retain the white of the paper in my art, in a similar manner to painting with watercolours, and so I use a special type of watercolour graphite. 06. Get into the subject I always start the detailing stage by tackling my main subject first, which I shape slowly. I want Falkor to evolve throughout the painting process; I have the idea that he's living as I paint, growing stronger with each step. I work with pencils, graphite wash and some white gouache, which gives the graphite a light blue tone. 07. Develop the second background Based on the appearance of Falkor, I work out the shades of grey I'll need to create the different background planes in my image. I decide that I need a second dark background to bring out Falkor. It also gives me a larger palette of nuances to help develop the final background. I work on this with my graphite wash. 08. Add the third background I move on through the planes in my image. The final one is a little odd because it shows the Ivory Tower. I have to create the illusion of a massive construction that's far off in the distance. I use several dry pencils, ranging from 5H to 2H, and a graphite wash. 09. Create light For this step I use oxidised silver leaf, which has a beautiful water-green tone. I use it to give the illusion of reverse lightning. I define two little green moons, which helps me to add depth. These simple geometric shapes enhance my composition. 10. Prepare the ornamentation I draw in the details of the ornamental figures that surround my central medallion. I'm keen to accompany the movement to create a style on its own that also matches the main subject. I like my illustrations to suit the spirit of the Golden Age of Illustration. 11. Apply gilding and glue Now that my Arabesque decorative motifs are in place, I apply gold mixtion to one bit of the pattern at a time. There are many different kind of mixtion available, with various drying times. I mostly use the illumination mixtion manufactured by Kölner. I also use the three- and 24-hour mixtions, depending on the pattern I'm working up. 12. Apply the gold leaf When the mixtion is finally ready to receive the gold leaf, I cut it meticulously and apply it with a brush. The gold leaf is fragile, and needs to be handled with care. I use a filbert sable brush to place the gold leaf on to the glue. This brush also enables me to remove any excess gold leaf. 13. Make precision cuts Using a scalpel, I define the gold leaf's outlines. This stage is all about removing the last bits of excess gold leaf and refining the contours of the motif. I use a range of different sized scalpel blades, depending on where I am in the creative process. A good, sharp tool is needed, especially on this step where precision and a light touch is all you can rely on. 14. Enhance the medallion Very slowly, I gild my pattern, going around my medallion. I maintain a balance in the final pattern by rubbing some parts with an agate, which creates gradations within the gold. I gild some parts of my image early in the process, so that I'm able to create these gradations. Indeed, using the graphite wash obscures my first gilding efforts. 15. Adjust contrast In this final step, I rely on my gilding work to adjust any visual nuances in the piece. Some parts of my image need to be darkened, while others should be enhanced. In this case, I decide I have to bring out more of Falkor. So I apply white gouache to him using an airbrush. Because the light from the gold leaf is so strong, it needs to be balanced by other areas in the image. Then I step back from the artwork and call my take on The Neverending Story finished. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX How to Paint & Draw bookazine. Related articles: How to start pastel drawing The best pencils for designers and artists How to choose which paintbrush to use View the full article

Web development is a rapidly growing field and there's still plenty of room for you to get your start in this profession. You just need the right skills to get your foot in the door. Dive into the field with the Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 and you'll pick up everything you need to know in no time. It's on sale now for 83 per cent off the retail price! This is the perfect opportunity for you to pick up the web development skills that you've always wanted to have. No matter your skill level, this professionally taught course will help you learn the fundamentals of web development and provide you with a complete understanding of essential programming languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery. Once you have the basics down, you'll move to full, creative projects that will help you put your new skills to the test. The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 usually retails for $149, but you can save 83 per cent off that price right now. That means you pay just $25 (approx. £18) for a great bundle that could launch your next career, so grab this deal today! Related articles: The future of web design 6 must-have skills for young web developers What web designers can learn from web developers View the full article

It's hard to imagine a world without Lego. From its ubiquitous bricks, to its theme parks, to the host of media tie-ins, via video games, movies, comics and more – Lego is the biggest toy brand on the planet. In this post we've celebrated the Lego legacy (or should we say Legocy, ahem) by presenting you with some of the greatest models ever built. So sit back and enjoy, as we showcase the very best in Lego art, from both certified Lego professionals and some amateurs whose love for Lego knows no bounds. 01. Mystic Currency Dante Dentoni's work reveals colourful goings-on beneath the surfaces of ordinary walls "I like making art in difficult places," says Miami-based visual artist Dante Dentoni, who specialises in site-specific sculptural installations that mix Lego, cement and wood, along with ready made toys, to reveal a harmonic interconnectivity between physical and emotional environments. Mystic Currency is a perfect example of his work; it takes the form of a corner of a wall where the plaster has been hacked away to reveal a Lego substrate beneath, and if you peer into the gaps you'll discover playful tableaux made up of Lego figures. 02. Afternoon of a Faun David Hughes tries to push the limits of what Lego can do in his sculptures David Hughes describes himself as a designer and artist who uses Lego bricks to create contemporary art. As well as flat Lego recreations of famous artworks, he also makes three-dimensional sculptures such as Afternoon of a Faun that are available to buy through his site, although be warned that they're built to order and don't come cheap. And if you're after your own special work of Lego art, David is happy to accept commissions. 03. New Money Can you crack the code and win some Bitcoin? Los Angeles-based Andy Bauch enjoys using bright and cheerful Lego bricks to explore darker, more complex subjects, and he employs computer algorithms and software assistance to create intricate mosaics that have a lot more to them than meets the eye. His most recent exhibition, New Money, used 100,000 Lego bricks and $10,000 in cryptocurrencies to comment on the simultaneous freedom and volatility of rapidly developing digital currencies, and came with an irresistible twist: if you can decode Bauch's patterns you'll reveal the private keys to their wallets, and the money's yours to grab. 04. Batman Batarang This brilliant Batman Batarang is made up of 35,000 Lego bricks This brilliant Batman Batarang crash landed in London to mark the release of the Lego Batman movie. Made from 35,000 lego bricks, the creation took the team at Bright Bricks 225 hours to build, with broken pavement, smoke and lights (all non-Lego based) completing the scene of destruction. 05. JME - Integrity We love this Lego replica of JME's Integrity album cover Lego Albums is a project by Harry Heaton, an artist who recreates iconic album covers using the little bricks. The finished products resemble low-resolution pixelated versions of album art, but are nonetheless brilliant. This replica of JME's Integrity album is definitely one of our favourites. Check out Heaton's collection to find yours. 06. The Simpsons town of Springfield You only get The Simpsons' house in the official set, so Matt De Lanoy built the whole town Everyone loves the Simpsons, but veteran Lego artist Matt De Lanoy clearly loves them more than most. Just a few months after the release of the official Simpsons Lego set, he's recreated the entire town of Springfield in coloured bricks, including the Kwik-E-Mart, Moe's, Krusty Burger, the nuclear power plant and more. This image only shows one corner of his creation – see more on his Flickr page. 07. Warren Elsmore Warren Elsmore attracted the most visitors ever to Paisley Museum and Art Galleries Professional Lego artist Warren Elsmore broke records in March, with an exhibition of 72 Lego models. Attracting over 50,000 visitors, with 2,000 on the busiest day, the likes of the Olympic Park and St Pancras Station in London and the Forth Bridge were on show. His Las Vegas strip also proved hugely popular. 08. Jin Kei A Lego steampunk creation from Lego artist Jin Kei Korean Lego artist Jin Kei has given life to one of the giant four-legged mammals from Salvador Dali’s painting The Elephants. The artist added his own steampunk twist with mechanical accessories, and at 32 inches, this makes for a seriously impressive piece of Lego art. 09. Back to the Future train Great Scott! Back to the Future Lego is, at last, a thing! We were extremely excited to learn that Back to the Future Lego was a thing. Our excitement then prompted us to search for BTTF Lego fan art, which is when we came across this 19th century train by G Russo. Russo is keen to get his design developed into an actual Lego set. And he's gone all out to try and ensure that happens, adding fine details including two side panels that fold open to reveal an overhead door, some foldout steps, and various controls, levers, pipes, and wheels for controlling the train. 10. Pixel Kiss This custom mosaic was based on the Pop Art style of Roy Lichtenstein The talented team at Brickworkz create the most amazing custom Lego art work. One such example is this piece, modelled based on the Pop Art style of Roy Lichtenstein's Kiss V 1969. Composed of over 20,000 Lego bricks, the cool mosaic currently resides at legal office of William Ellyson in Richmond, Virginia. 11. Lego aircraft carrier This epic Lego sculpture is composed of 200,000 bricks, stands at 4.5m long and weighs over 350 pounds This Lego aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman has got to be one of the most impressive creations on our list, in terms of size and detail. The 200,000 brick, 4.5m long, 350-pound aircraft carrier comes complete with electrical lights as well as moving elevators and radar dishes. The epic sculpture, built by German Lego fan Malle Hawking, also includes a half submarine and a mini gunboat on the side. 12. Lego framed rainbow This gorgeous Lego rainbow took designer Simon C. Page six hours to piece together After discovering the Lego Factory and latest Lego Digital Designer software, artist Simon C Page became hooked on Lego art design. And this Lego framed rainbow is his first creation. Created out of 3,029 bricks, there are over 200 1x1 pieces of each of the 16 colours used throughout. "It has took me over six hours to put together and wasn't easy – stacking nearly 50 1 x 1 piece end to end nearly 50 times across, all the time keeping to a strict colouring pattern," he said on his website. 13. A futuristic Japan School children in Japan created this amazing futuristic Japan using 1.8 million bricks Project Build Up Japan was sponsored and curated by the legendary toy brick makers and encouraged school children to build imaginary structures of a Japan that they wanted to see. With a little help from their parents and a few Lego officials, children across Japan were able to create their country the way they wanted it. The total number of Lego bricks used was a jaw-dropping 1.8 million. 14. Lifesize Lego forest This lifesize LEGO forest is made up of 15 pine trees and 15 flower sets, all 66 times bigger than their design toy counterparts How cool is this? This isn’t a child-sized toy set: it’s actually a lifesize Lego forest in the Australian Outback. It’s made up of 15 pine trees, and 15 flower sets, all 66 times bigger than their design toy counterparts – making the trees a whopping 4m high. The iconic toy brick company built this amazing creation in Living Desert State Park, a 2400ha reserve more than 700 miles west of Sydney, as part of its 50-year anniversary celebration. 15. Lego advent The calendar was made out of an astonishing 600,000 Lego bricks Last year, the UK's only certified Lego technician Duncan Titchmarsh built this huge advent calendar sculpture. Made up of approximately 600,000 bricks, the installation was unveiled in central London's Covent Garden shopping area. Each door was opened at 4pm every day in the lead up to Xmas day. The presents behind each were also cool Lego creations. What an awesome way to celebrate the festive season. 16. Sea Monster Brickley is made up of 170,000 Lego bricks and stretches a whopping 30 feet Take a trip to Disney World in Florida and you'll find this awesome Lego sea monster, Brickley. The cool character is made out of 170,000 Lego bricks, stretches a whopping 30 feet and weighs half a ton! The brilliant sculpture is one of many found in Downtown Disney at the Lego Imagination centre. Other models include a Transformer, giant models of Woody and Buzz Lightyear and the Seven Dwarves. 17. Poseidon Poseidon was built for Vancouver Lego Club‘s Mythology exhibit Paul Hetherington – known in the Lego world as BrickBaron – had already given a sneak peek to this incredible creation, by showing off the lower structure full of mermaids, oceans and ships. Little did we know that it would actually play as part of a much larger sculpture featuring the God of the sea. Poseidon was built for the Vancouver Lego Club's Mythology exhibit at the Surrey Museum; taking place from July until September 15th. The attention to detail is astonishing: we don't know if we'd have the patience to build something as impressive as this. You can see more photos of Poseidon, as well as Paul's other work on his Flickr page. 18. Woman This stunning piece was created using LSculpt This stunning sculpture was created by Bram Lambrecht using LSculpt – a program which converts a triangle mesh into an LDraw file. Like the sphere generator, the generated model consists of a surface of 1×1 plates oriented in whichever direction provides the best detail. We love that Bram has taken the time to create not only the body and branch but the shadow too. It's these details that make certain Lego sculptures stand out from the rest. You can see more of Bram's work on his official website. 19. Biggest ever Mario Although created in 2009, this huge Mario sculpture still deserves a mention. Brick layer Dirk Van Haesbroeck took just over two weeks to finalise the plumber. Mario is comprised of 30,000 Lego bricks with the pedestal containing another 12,000. This video showcases the 160 hours of work in just over a minute. Once the sculpture was finished, it was auctioned off on eBay in aid of Ronald McDonald, a Dutch organisation that arranges proper housing for relatives of hospitalised children in the vicinity of clinics. It sold for an impressive $5100. You can see more of Dirk's Lego art on his Facebook page. 20. Serenity This Serenity sculpture is a must-see for any Firefly fan Despite its short run on television almost ten years ago, fans of Firefly and film Serenity still express an intense love and passion for the Joss Whedon series. One such fan decided to build the ultimate homage to the sci-fi show with a replica of the ship Serenity. Adrian Drake used around 70,000 Lego pieces and the project took 475 hours over the course of 21 months. The ship itself weighs an incredible 135 pounds due to the intricate details Adrian has included. You can more of Adrian's stunning Lego art on his website. Next page: 20 more brilliant examples of Lego art 21. Pop-up book Lego art Nathan Sawaya's pop-up book What can we say about Nathan? Well, first off he's one of the, if not the biggest Lego artist around. Counting himself as one of the world's certified Lego professionals, when he's not jetting off around the world showcasing his artwork in prestigious galleries, he's at his studio creating the next array of Lego art masterpieces. Here, the pop-up book is a celebration of Waldo H. Hunt – ''the king of pop-up.'' It's created entirely out of Lego (which is handy for this list) and is based around a poem Nathan wrote himself. You can see the said poem across the pages of the book, which we think is a lovely touch. See more of Nathan's incredible work at his personal website. Or see below... 22. Crowd Nathan Sawaya's Crowd We could compile this entire list with Nathan's creations but we'll treat you to just two. Crowd has been trawling the United States for quite some time thanks to Nathan's popular exhibitions so you may have seen it before. Inspired by the throngs of people walking the streets of New York, Crowd also gives us a sense of George Orwell's 1984 with its watchful eye. The blending of the Lego colours is a perfect example of how talented Nathan is; combining art and toys has never looked so good. Both Pop-up book and Crowd are currently on tour as part of Nathan's The Art of the Brick exhibition. Schedule information can be found on his website. 23. Cool robots Anyone who can call themselves a 'professional kid' and can make money from building robots (and other such things) out of Lego, definitely deserves a mention. Sean Kenney is another certified Lego art professional and does just that and has been making waves on the sculpture scene for quite some time. In this video, the short tutorial coincides with the release of his book Cool Robots. He shows you how you too can become a Lego artist (who wouldn't want that?!) with the Lego pieces that you already own. Check out the rest of his work on his website. 24. The Love Boat Lego art Ryan McNaught's Lego Love Boat Australian designer Ryan McNaught is another artist who can claim to be a Certified Lego Professional on his CV – pretty cool huh? The Love Boat is just one of his incredible works and this photo is merely the middle interior. You can see the rest of the pictures, along with his other work on his Flickr stream. McNaught specialises in interactive models and has even made a Qantas Airbus A380 incorporating Lego Mindstorms technology in the past. It's no wonder he has a stash of awards. You can contact Ryan via his website. 25. Movie Dudes Angus Maclane's Ghostbusters Angus Maclane is one of Pixar's many talented staff members. He has the distinction of working on almost every feature after joining the company in 1997 including Up, Wall-E and Toy Story 3. If that doesn't make him talented enough, he is an avid Lego builder in his spare time. Take a look at his Flickr stream and you'll see that Angus has managed to create the likes of Gizmo, Indiana Jones, and Dennis Quad using only Lego pieces. 26. Star Wars star destroyer We couldn't compile a list about Lego art without a mention of Star Wars, right? Lego's master builder Erik Varszegi compiled this amazing rendition of Star Wars' Venator class star destroyer using only Lego pieces. Just look at the size of it! This 8-foot Star Wars Republic Attack Cruiser LEGO model is one of many creations made from Erik's hands. You can see more images for this Star Wars replica via this Flickr stream. 27. Obama's Inauguration Lego Master Model builder Gary McIntire doesn't do things by halves. When Obama's inauguration took place on 20 January, 2009, he felt there was no other way to celebrate than with Lego. Take a look at his amazing reconstruction of that monumental day, with hundreds of tiny Lego characters and a Lego White House so close to the real thing. Who knew Lego could make politics fun?! 28. Creatures of habitat at Philadelphia Zoo Sean Kenney's penguins for 'Creatures of habitat' We just had to feature another of Sean's Lego sculptures. This collection entitled Creatures of Habitat was created for Philadelphia Zoo to raise awareness of endangered species. And what could be more engaging than Lego animals? Children flocked to see the sculptures which included a polar bear, penguins and monkeys on display during 2010. Sadly, the sculptures have now been safely locked away but you can still continue to support endangered animals – just not Lego ones. 29. Allianz Stadium This Allianz Arena Lego replica was built following the original plans from Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron. It took an incredible 4,209 hours of work and over a million Lego pieces to create. Inside, there are a staggering 30,000 miniature Lego figures to make up the audience. The stadium even contains interior LED lighting to glow red, white and blue to match that of the actual stadium. Special translucent bricks were commissioned for the project. 30. The Burn Cole Blaq's The Burn Cole Blaq is an artist hailing from Germany. He's created some awesome Lego designs including his graffiti series. Here, Cole has managed to create an almost true-to-life burning fire using only Lego bricks. The mixture of light to dark colours is what really makes this piece work. Although Cole isn't actually endorsed by Lego, we think they should be stopping by his website pronto! 31. Hummingbird Sean Kenney's Hummingbird Okay, okay, we know we should stop featuring his work but it's just so good! This giant Ruby-Throated Hummingbird magically hovers eight feet about the ground while getting its grub from a giant flower. This piece took Sean and his team over four weeks to design and five weeks to build with 31,565 Lego pieces. We're still baffled about how Sean managed to keep the bird hovering in the air. It's currently on show at the Reiman Gardens in Iowa as part of Sean's travelling exhibition Nature Connects. 32. Working harpsichord Henry Lim's Harpsichord Henry Lim has a habit involving Lego which sometimes results in some incredible sculptures. With the exception of the wire strings, this instrument is entirely constructed out of Lego parts. And it is playable. It took him two years of designing, theorising, collecting parts, building, testing and then building again. You can take a tour of the harpsichord or indulge in its history via his website. Lego art at it's very best. 33. Brooklyn Jonathan Lopes' Brooklyn Brooklyn based artist Jonathan Lopes has started working with Lego, recreating his beloved Brooklyn landscape. Although small in scale (it has to fit in his living room) the urban creation is breathtaking. The buildings are real spots he walks past everyday and the finished product took him over two years to complete. The city has since been broken up into sections to be displayed around his beloved home city. You can see the rest of his work over on his website. 34. St Pancras Christmas Tree We know it's a little early (or late?) to be mentioning Christmas but we couldn't help ourselves once we laid eyes upon this incredible Christmas tree that was placed in London's St. Pancras in 2011. Commissioned by the UK's only certified Lego professional Duncan Titchmarsh and his team at Bright Bricks, the tree consisted of approximately 400,000 Lego bricks and remains as the biggest Lego tree in history. Who can beat them this year? 35. Life-sized Lego SUV Back in September 2011, a Connecticut-based team of 22 master builders created a life-sized Lego SUV to mark the release Ford's 2012 production range. Sadly, the car doesn't actually drive or work in any way shape or form but it sure looks cool! The team spent a gruelling 2,500 hours creating the car, using 380,000 bricks (that's around $40,000 dollars to you and me.) In its entirety, the car weighs over 2,600 pounds. 36. Predator Shawn Snyder's Predator Shawn Snyder has got some serious Lego skills and one of our favourites is this Predator creation. We've had a bit of a love affair with Predator lately (thanks to our sci-fi addiction) and this just seals the deal. Snyder has created a range of different predators on his website as well as Star Wars characters and superheroes. It's a truly impressive collection from a guy that counts Lego art as a hobby. 37. Princess Mononoke Eric recreated the character from the popular Studio Gibli anime Professional Lego artist Eric Hashburger says that qualities for a project must use bright, primary colours and be something that is part of pop culture – something that is easily recognised by most people, whether constructed from Lego bricks or not. Here, he realised that characters from Japanese anime were prime subjects. This model of San from Princess Mononoke is just over 5ft tall and weighs around 80 pounds. Adrian is also quick to add that the sculpture is completey glue free. To see more of Hasburger's work, visit his Lego art website. 38. London Olympic Stadium We've already mentioned Warren Elsmore, but his gold-standard creation deserves another mention. To celebrate the Olympics, Warren decided to build a homage to the stadium in Lego art. The extraordinary work consists of approximately 250,000 standard Lego bricks and took Warren and his wife over 300 hours to construct. 39. Batman to Joker mosaic Arthur has already created a number of impressive mosaics, including the Afghan Girl and Anakin morphing into Darth Vadar. However, we were most impressed by this incredible Batman and Joker creation. From one angle the picture is Batman and then from the other angle it slowly turns into the Joker. Arthur believes that this is the fourth lenticular mosaic, with the first being Chris Doyle's mosaic Dorian Bley. You can see more of Arthur Gugick's incredible Lego art on his website. 40. Lost Worlds Dinosaur Brickville DesignWorks builds sculptures for promotional purposes Brickville DesignWorks is a commercial venture, with the goal of using Lego bricks and products to produce sculptures for events, displays and exhibits. The team is headed by Robin Sather, Canada's only certified Lego art professional. This dinosaur sculpture was created for the Telus World of Science and is one of the company's largest creations. You can see more of Brickville DesignWork's Lego art on here. Related articles: 30 great examples of Pixel art Get better at figure drawing How to colour your manga art View the full article

We’re delighted to announce that Generate London, the event for web designers and developers, is back later on in 2018. Returning to the UK from 19-21 September, Generate promises to be bigger and better than even before. Held at the Royal Institution, this year’s unmissable conference will feature a day of practical workshops followed by an inspirational two-day conference. With tickets set to go on sale soon, we wanted to share a sneak peak of a couple of the world-class names that’ll be speaking at Generate London to whet your appetite. Unmissable speakers One of the funniest, nicest and most impressive designers in the industry, Sarah Paramenter plunged into this competitive profession at just 19. Scant years later, she has built an internationally respected web and iOS design practice, with clients including Adobe, Ellen Degeneres, Apple, Blackberry, News International, STV and the National Breast Cancer Foundation of America. In 2011, at net magazine’s annual awards show, Sarah’s peers voted her Designer of the Year. Joining her at the conference is Bruce Lawson. Bruce is a web standards consultant to Wix helping make Stylable.io, an extension of CSS and a pre-processor to make styling components reliable, easy and fun. He was previously Deputy CTO at Opera and has been actively championing web standards since 2003. Bag more benefits Need more convincing? Here are just some of the great reasons to attend Generate London: Access insight from top web-design talent at the Generate conference Get inspired by the stories of the industry’s leading names Gain in-depth practical guidance from comprehensive workshops Rub shoulders with fellow web-design dignitaries With so much going on, it’s important to make sure you don’t miss out: tickets go on sale soon so keep your eyes peeled for the launch of Generate London 2018. Related articles: Best web designs of 2017 revealed 10 best new web design tools for December 23 steps to the perfect website layout View the full article

Degree show season is almost upon us. Here's your guide to when and where each of the UK's art and design schools are holding their shows this year, plus links to the website for each. Read on for May's shows, or jump to the listings for June or July. Degree shows are the best place to spot up-and-coming talent from any creative discipline. For a taste of the level of work you can expect, take a look at our picks of the hottest talent from last year's shows in London and outside of London. If you're a student gearing up to show off your work, see our tips for how to shine at your degree show. These listings were created for Computer Arts magazine issue 280 (on sale 29 May), which also features a special feature on how to impress at your grad show. Be sure to keep an eye on upcoming issues to find out CA's pick of the best student talent from 2018's shows (subscribe here). May University of Reading: Art Education Degree Show Institute of Education, L19, G03, London Road campus, University of Reading, Redlands Road, RG1 5EX 17 May-7 June Leeds Arts University: Foundation Diploma in Art & Design Vernon St, Leeds, LS2 8PH 18-23 May This open show will transform the university’s buildings into a large scale exhibition space, giving you the opportunity to view the latest work from its creative, talented students. Edinburgh Napier University: Showtime 2018 Merchiston Campus, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh, EH10 5DT 18-27 May University of Lincoln Art, Architecture and Design Building, Brayford Pool Campus, University of Lincoln 21 May-4 June BA and MA shows for the university’s students of graphic design, product design, architecture, interactive design, advertising, illustration, animation, visual effects, fine art and fashion. Central Saint Martins: Show One Granary Building, 1 Granary Square, London, N1C 4AA 23-27 May The prestigious London college’s first show includes its BA and MA Fine Art courses, as well as photography and moving image work. Liverpool John Moores School of Art and Design The John Lennon Art and Design Building, Duckinfield Street, Liverpool, L3 5RD 25 May-8 June Cardiff Metropolitan School of Art and Design Llandaff Campus, Cardiff, CF5 2YB 26 May-1 June Canterbury Christ Church University: Fine and Applied Arts BA Degree Show Sidney Cooper Gallery, 22-23 St Peter’s St, Canterbury, CT1 2BQ 28 May-11 June London College of Communication: Show 1 London College of Communication, Elephant & Castle, London, SE1 6SB 31 May-2 June (Media School) LCC invites you to celebrate work by students from its School of Media’s advertising and photography courses. June University of Portsmouth Eldon Building, Winston Churchill Avenue, Portsmouth PO1 2DJ 1-8 June University of Derby: The Big Show Markeaton Street, Derby, DE22 3BD and Britannia Mill, DE22 3BL 2-3 June University of Westminster: Mixed Media Fine Art Ambika P3, University of Westminster, 35-100 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5LS 2-5 June University of Cumbria Brampton Road campus and Caldewgate, Carlisle, CA3 9AY 2-8 June Glasgow School of Art Glasgow School of Art, 167 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G3 6RQ 2-8 June The annual undergraduate degree show runs across the GSA campus. Afterwards, the graduates will showcase their work in a range of events in London including New Designers and Free Range and, for the first time, on the catwalk at Graduate Fashion Week. University of Brighton University Galleries at 58-67 Grand Parade 2-10 June Edinburgh College of Art Lauriston Place, Lauriston Street, West Port, Chambers Street and Bristo Square 2-10 June For nine days in summer, Edinburgh College of Art is transformed into a public showcase of the work of its graduating students, most of whom are completing undergrad degrees. This year, the work of students from Art, Design, Architecture and Landscape Architecture will be on show. Nottingham Trent University: Art and Design Show Arkwright, Barnes Wallis, Bonington, Newton and Waverley buildings, Nottingham Trent University, City Campus, Goldsmith Street, Nottingham 2-10 June Newcastle University: Fine Art Newcastle: Hatton Gallery, University of Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU 2-16 June Kingston School of Art Kingston School of Art, Kingston University, Knights Park Kingston KT1 2QJ 3-8 June The 2018 Undergraduate Degree Show at Kingston School of Art is a celebration of its students' achievements. Work from the film-making, fine art, photography, product and furniture design departments are on show at the Knights Park campus, while that of the illustration and animation students appears at River House, with graphic design, interior design and fashion exhibiting at Portland Road. University of Hertfordshire: Headlines Degree Show Art & Design Gallery, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9AB 4-8 June University of Westminster: BA Animation Graduation Showcase Regent Street Cinema, 309 Regent St, London, W1B 2UW 7 June, 5.30-8pm University for the Creative Arts: Farnham Falkner Road, Farnham, GU9 7DS 7-15 June (closed Sunday 10) Goldsmith’s University of London Unit 8, Copeland Park/ Bussey Building, Peckham 8-11 June The annual BA degree show moves to a new home for 2018, Bussey Building. Come to Peckham and see the latest design emerging from the Goldsmiths BA course. Belfast School of Art Ulster University, York Street, Belfast, BT15 1ED 8-12 June University of the West of England: The Creative Industries Degree Show City Campus at Bower Ashton Studios, Kennel Lodge Road, Bristol, BS3 2JT; City Campus at Arnolfini, Narrow Quay, BS1 4QA; and City Campus at Spike Island, 33 Cumberland Road, BS1 6UX 8-13 June The annual Creative Industries Degree Show, Con-form, will showcase work from over 500 graduates from the undergraduate and postgraduate art, design, film and journalism programmes. Arts University Bournemouth: BA Summer Show Wallisdown, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5HH 8-15 June Plymouth University School of Art, Design and Architecture degree show Roland Levinsky Building, main campus (Illustration, 3D Design, Architecture, Graphic Design); Scott Building, main campus (Media Arts, Photography); Royal William Yard, off campus (Fine Art) 8-15 June Running alongside the degree show, there will also be an alumni show, Synesthesia, from 9-23 June at the Peninsula Arts Gallery. University of Salford Degree Show New Adelphi, University of Salford, University Road, Salford M5 4WT 8-15 June The University’s annual degree show celebrates the work from across the School of Arts & Media, plus Architecture from the School of Built Environment. Cambridge School of Art Ruskin Gallery, East Road, Cambridge, CB1 1PT 8-16 June Plymouth College of Art: Degree Show Plymouth College of Art, Tavistock Place, Plymouth 8-21 June (not Sundays) University of Gloucestershire Hardwick Centre for Fashion, Art and Photography, St Paul’s Road, Cheltenham, GL50 4BS 8-22 June University for the Creative Arts: Rochester UCA Rochester, Fort Pitt, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1DZ 8-22 June (closed Sundays) University of Westminster: Graphic Communication Design and Contemporary Media Practice Ambika P3, University of Westminster, 35-100 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5LS 9-11 June Leeds Arts University Vernon St, Leeds, LS2 8PH and Bleinheim Walk, Leeds, LS2 9AQ 9-14 June This open show will transform the university’s buildings into a large scale exhibition space, giving you the opportunity to view the latest work from their creative, talented students. Degree work is on show at Blenheim Walk, while Vernon Street houses work by those on the Extended Diploma in Art & Design, HE Diploma (Art & Design) and Level 2 Diploma in Visual Arts. You can also purchase prints, cards, stationery and artwork at the Art Market, which will be open at Blenheim Walk (cash payments only). Buckinghamshire New University Arts & Creative Industries End of Year Show High Wycombe Campus, Queen Alexandra Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP11 2JZ 9-15 June Courses displaying include Animation and Visual Effects; Foundation Degree Art, Design & Media; Graphic Arts; Interior and Spatial Design; Foundation Degree Kitchen Design; Mechanical Engineering; Product Design; and Textiles and Surface Design. A film illustrating work in the School of Arts & Creative Industries will also be running throughout the show. Staffordshire University: Show and Tell College Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 2DE 9-16 June Hereford College of Arts Degree Show: Synthesis College Road campus, Hereford, HR1 1LT 9, 11-16 June Bath Spa University: School of Art and Design Undergraduate Degree Show Sion Hill campus, Bath BA1 5SF 9-17 June Loughborough University Edward Barnsley Building, Epinal Way, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU 9-17 June University of Wolverhampton MK Building, City Campus, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1DT 9-20 June This year, artwork from over 300 students across 16 BA (Hons) and BDes (Hons) courses will be on display, embracing the areas of applied arts, digital media, fashion and textiles, fine art, graphic communication, illustration, interior design, photography and product design. Manchester School of Art (Manchester Met) Benzie, Grosvenor, Chatham and Old Student Union Buildings, MMU All Saints campus, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M15 6BH 9-20 June University of Reading: Department of Typography & Graphic Communication TOB2, 2 Earley Gate, Whiteknights, University of Reading, RG6 7BE 11-16 June Degree shows in BA Graphic Communication, MA Book Design and MA Information Design. Plymouth College of Art: Foundation Diploma in Art & Design Summer Show Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard, Plymouth 13-16 June Free Range: Middlesex University F Block T1-T5, Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, E1 6QL 14 June-18 July The Middlesex University Arts and Creative Industries Degree Show 2018, showcases exciting new creative work from graduates in animation, fine art, fashion, graphic design, illustration, photography, interiors and product design. Free Range: University of Brighton F Block G4-G5, Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL 14 June-18 July ‘In Cahoots’ is the collaborative and fully self initiated end of year show from Brighton's Graphic Design and Illustration 3rd year students. The show will be multi faceted ranging through every artistic style, and promises to show off a proper art school sense of individuality. Wimbledon College of Art Merton Hall Road, London, SW19 3QA 14-23 June The UAL college’s summer show features work from students on its MA Fine Art course and degree courses in painting, sculpture, set design and more. Brunel University: Made in Brunel 2018 Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London, SE1 9PH 15-17 June Goldsmiths University: Degree Shows Ben Pimlott Building, St James, New Cross, London, SE14 6AD‌ 15, 16, 18 June University Campus Suffolk: Art, Design and Humanties End of Year Show 2018 Arts Building, Waterfront Building and Gallery, Neptune Quay, Ipswich 15-21 June University of Central Lancashire Design: Harrington Social Space, Adelphi Street, Preston, PR1 7BH Fine Art: Hanover Building, Bhailok Street, Preston, PR1 2YL Photography: Venue 53, Fylde Road, Preston, PR1 2TQ 15-22 June University of Sunderland City Space, Chester Road, Sunderland, SR1 3SD 15-22 June Chelsea College of Art and Design: Degree Shows 16 John Islip Street, London, SW1P 4JU 15-23 June University for the Creative Arts: Epsom Ashley Road, Epsom, KT18 5BE 15-23 June (closed Sundays) De Montfort University Vijay Patel Building, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH 16-21 June (closed Sunday 17) Gray’s School of Art Degree Show Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen, AB10 7QD 16-23 June Camberwell College of Arts: Degree Shows 45-65 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UF 16-23 June The college’s undergraduate show features work by graduating students from art, graphic design, 3D and illustration courses. Canterbury Christ Church University: BA Photography Degree Show Sidney Cooper Gallery, 22-23 St Peter's St, Canterbury CT1 2BQ 16-23 June University for the Creative Arts: Canterbury New Dover Road, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 3AN 16-29 June (closed Sundays) Ravensbourne College Greenwich Peninsula, 6 Penrose Way, London, SE10 0EW 20-22 June Central Saint Martins: Degree Show Two Granary Building, 1 Granary Square, London, N1C 4AA 20-24 June Graduates of graphic design exhibit at this prestigious show alongside other disciplines including architecture and ceramics, jewellery, furniture and design. London College of Communication: Show 2 21-23 June LCC invites you to celebrate work by students of graphic design and illustration at its Design School; and film, animation, TV and games design students at its Screen School. London Metropolitan University: Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design Central House, 59-63 Whitechapel High St, E1 7PF 22 June -5 July University of Westminster: Photography Ambika P3, University of Westminster, 35-100 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5LS 23-28 June Royal College of Art RCA Kensington: Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2EU RCA Battersea: Howie Street, London, SW11 4AY 23 June-1 July (closed Friday 30 June) Plymouth College of Art: Pre-Degree Summer Show Plymouth College of Art, Palace Court, Plymouth 25-29 June Norwich University of the Arts Degree Shows Francis House, 3-7 Redwell St, Norwich, NR2 4SN 26 June-4 July New Designers: Part One Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, London, N1 0QH 27-30 June Every year over 3,000 of the most promising graduate talents from Britain’s leading design courses exhibit at New Designers. Part one of the show features textiles, fashion, costume design, jewellery, glass, ceramics, and contemporary design crafts. July New Designers: Part Two Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, London, N1 0QH 4-7 July Part two of the show features graduates from various design disciplines including graphic design, illustration and animation, motion and digital arts, furniture, product and industrial design, and spatial design and interiors. D&AD New Blood Festival The Old Truman Brewery, Shoreditch, London 12-14 July New Blood Festival brings together emerging talent and industry professionals for a double whammy of Fringe events and a free exhibition in east London. The exhibition sees university courses from around the UK showing off their very best students' work from the past year. It gives industry professionals the chance to meet new talent and young creatives the opportunity to network and skill up. Camberwell College of Arts: MA Shows 45-65 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UF 12-18 July The college’s postgraduate show features work by the college’s MA Visual Arts courses: Book Arts, Designer Maker, Fine Art Digital, Illustration and Printmaking. Goldsmiths University: Postgrad Shows Ben Pimlott Building, St James, New Cross, London, SE14 6AD‌ 13, 14, 16 July Shillington College: Graduate Exhibitions The Old Truman Brewery F Block - Ground Floor, Elys Yard, London, E1 6QL; Manchester location to be confirmed 27 July (6pm-8pm) Shillington offers a mixture of short full-time and longer part-time courses that represent an alternative to three-year university degree courses. Check out the impressive and beautiful work by their students, many of whom were beginners to design just three months previously, at their Manchester and London campuses. View the full article

Researchers found an array of vulnerabilities in the Logitech Harmony Hub, shedding light on IoT security. View the full article

An attacker can gain man-in-the-middle access to inject a rogue executable file onto the phone. View the full article

It's been 10 years since Upfest - The Urban Paint Festival was set up by co-founder Stephen Hayles and a small team of like-minded people with a passion for street art. Since then, Upfest has grown to become the largest free event of its kind in Europe, but it needs your help to make the tenth anniversary edition a stand-out event. Located in south Bristol, a city famous in graffiti circles for its Banksy murals, Upfest 2018 is planned for 28-30 July and is expected to host 400 artists from across the globe, as well as an estimated 50,000 visitors. The event is an inclusive space for artists to come together, paint, and show off their talents with a spray can. But with running costs ticking over into hundreds of thousands of pounds, the Upfest organisers are once again turning to crowd funding to help cover costs. With a target of £20,000 to help cover materials, management fees and marketing, the Upfest Fundsurfer pledge only has four days left to reach its goal. Xenz & Will Barras on the Masonic at Upfest 2017: Photo Credit Paul Box If you're able to dig deep and pledge as little as a fiver towards this amazing event, you'll be thanked for your generosity with a plethora of rewards ranging from a simple smile to a chair shaped like a tin of beans. Everyone who pledges will also be entered into a free prize draw, where you could win a festival weekend stay at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel. There's just four days to go on this campaign so you'll have to be quick if you want to back this project. Having already raised more than three quarters of the money needed, the end is in sight for Upfest, so our fingers are crossed it'll find the rest of the support it needs soon. We hope to see you there! Related articles: 6 ways street art is influencing design Discover 19 of the world's best street art locations Stunning street art aims to save the Arctic View the full article

In September 2017, Dutch illustrator and animator Lois van Baarle launched her second crowdfunded project The Sketchbook of Loish. She smashed her £20,000 target almost instantly, eventually closing the campaign with some 10,000 backers pledging £383,404 to bring the project to life. Van Baarle is by no means unique. Back in June, illustrator Iris Compiet saw her Faeries of the Faultlines artbook funded within 50 minutes. It raised 111,019 EUR before the campaign closed. According to Kickstarter, 36 per cent of all campaigns are successful. But that means 64 per cent fail. So what’s the secret to running a successful Kickstarter? And are there any pitfalls artists should avoid? Read on to find out... Check it’s the right platform for you First, check that crowdfunding is the right way to raise capital for your project. Before throwing yourself into a campaign, ask yourself: do you have a clear goal? And do you have a compelling story to tell that will convince people to stump up the cash? Compiet did, on both counts. She’d been working as a graphic designer for over 16 years before she crowdfunded her first sketchbook. “I knew all about designing books,” she says. “I wanted something luxurious – a book that would be amazing not only because of the art, but also how it looked. I wanted it to be a treasure in a bookcase. Only the best paper would do. I didn’t want to settle for less.” Loish has successfully launched two books through Kickstarter Before launching both of her Kickstarter projects, Van Baarle spent time researching other campaigns in the same field – both those that had been successful and those that hadn’t. “I read a lot of blogs on running a Kickstarter, and talked to people who knew more about the process than I did,” Van Baarle says. “I also started promotion ahead of time. It’s advised to start at least three months before launch, but I started a year in advance. I worked on it almost every day for 12 months.” Simon Frisby agrees that adequate preparation and pre-marketing is key to a good Kickstarter project. He launched the wildly successful Nomad Art Satchel with concept artist Darren Yeow a few years ago. In September 2017, the pair launched two further Kickstarter products: The Etchr Art Satchel and Field Case. Build some buzz “If your project doesn’t have a bumper first day or two, then you’re fighting an uphill battle,” says Frisby. “We spent a good six months showing iterations of our new products on social media and blog posts, gathering feedback from the art community and building our mailing list,” he recalls. “We even spent time making memes and doing other unconventional things to offer value beyond saying ‘Hey, buy our bag!’, which can be kind of annoying.” Simon Frisby shared the different iterations of his Nomad Art Satchel to build interest before the launch Yeow and Frisby also sent prototypes to leading artists and YouTubers, asking them to review the products and provide feedback. “This pre-launch buzz-building is crucial because if you have a good first few days then that momentum can really erupt as ‘social proof’, and you can quickly push past your funding goal as people see your campaign as a winner. I believe we funded our $30k goal in about four minutes,” he says. “If we did it all again,” he adds, “we would have more early bird specials to avoid disappointment – we just didn’t expect them to go so quickly. We’d also engage with more artists and YouTubers from non-English speaking countries to broaden our exposure.” Take time off work Illustrator Emily Hare recommends taking time off work during your campaign – something she wasn’t able to do. She launched her artbook, Strangehollow, in April 2017 after shouting about it on social media for three months. To her surprise, she hit her £2,500 funding target in just two hours, with the project receiving more than £30,000 over the next month. Emily Hare's Strangehollow project took a lot more time than she anticipated “I was overwhelmed on the first day of the project as I didn’t expect it to fund so soon, let alone finish the way it did,” says Hare. “Be prepared to be working non-stop, answering emails, posting about your project daily – and that’s only the start of it. It’s a full-time job.” Also, consider the time needed for your rewards. One mistake Compiet made was to promise people who pledged within the first 48 hours an original sketch in their book. “I limited the time, but not the amount of sketches,” she admits. “I now have over 600 books to sign and sketch in!” Things like packaging postcards, prints and other pledges also take time. And don’t forget storage. “I never thought I’d have more than 500 books sold,” says Compiet. “I’m looking at over 2,000 now. There’s no way I can store that many books in my home, so I need to rent a secure storage space and get insurance on the books while they’re in storage.” Be prepared to be working non-stop, answering emails, posting about your project daily – and that’s only the start of it. Emily Hare One option is to collaborate with a publisher. Van Baarle teamed up with 3D Total for her Kickstarter campaigns. This meant she could focus on the art, while 3D Total took on the technical aspects. “My publisher set up the Kickstarter page, answered questions and did all the work that I didn’t have time for,” she recalls. “I was able to focus on the content of the book and engaging with my online audience, which is my area of expertise.” Budget properly Don’t underestimate costs when you’re budgeting a Kickstarter project: ask for full quotes from printers or other partners, keep an eye on taxes and always account for postage when setting your funding goal. “People often get caught out,” says Hare. “Make sure all your potential costs are covered in the funding goal.” “I’ve learned to avoid over-promising and over-complicating a campaign,” says illustrator Sean Murray, who recently raised $25,593 for his second Sketchbook collection. “Too many reward levels and too many stretch goals without proper budgeting can get you in trouble. Make something awesome, show people how they can get the awesome thing, and then send them the awesome thing.” Sean Murray kept rewards simple for his sketchbook Kickstarter Murray attributes his Kickstarter success to his increased Instagram audience. And Frisby agrees that developing a strong social following before launch day is key. He also advises building a mailing list. “For creatives in particular, the Kickstarter platform is useful for turning existing support into raised pledges, but not so effective at driving the new traffic necessary to have a very strong launch,” he says. Ultimately, he says, it’s all about knowing your audience, and engaging with them before and during launch. “Speak their language,” he advises. “Don’t just ‘market’ to them. Make sure you offer something valuable.” This article was originally published in ImagineFX, the world's best-selling magazine for digital artists. Subscribe now. Read more: How to design believable fantasy beasts How to draw animals, people, landscapes and more How to paint imaginary creatures View the full article

In a declining industry plagued with tumbling circulation figures and title closures, designing covers for newsstand magazines has become increasingly fraught. Limitless digital content available in a split-second makes the monthly print cycle of magazines look ever more anachronistic and irrelevant, and the corresponding decline in revenue from print ads only hastens print’s downward spiral. 100 brilliant print adverts The battle is no longer print versus digital. Digital has already won. The challenge for print is simply to co-exist, and the frontline of this battle is the cover of your magazine, which must somehow engage, cajole and convince readers that buying something written six weeks ago might somehow still be a worthwhile experience. But despite all the gloomy headlines announcing the death of print, there are still bold launches and thrilling innovations that suggest all may not be lost. And just as the book publishing industry defended itself against the assault of e-readers with more beautiful jacket designs that celebrated the physical properties of print, so magazine publishers and designers must remind their readers why print is different, not inferior to digital. 01. Beware the formula GQ (left) doesn’t want you to miss out on any content, so it lists most of it on its cover. Esquire (right) hard sells one story, creating a cover that exudes confidence An exhausting checklist of unofficial best practices – The Formula – has accumulated over time. These guidelines include adding flashes in the top left quadrant (the hot zone of visibility), running sell lines above your masthead (to grab the browsers attention before they’ve even seen your logo design) and keeping the main cover hit in the top half of the cover (so it’s less likely to be hidden by other titles). The list’s endless: models should make eye contact; the colour pink is ‘feminine’; ‘green shouldn’t be seen’… The obvious problem with following The Formula is that nearly everyone else on the newsstand is doing the same thing. Browse any magazine shelf and you’ll see an exhausting repetition, a visual cacophony where every title is cancelled out by its identikit neighbour. And despite the apparent common sense behind some of these rules, common sense rarely makes for a truly thrilling magazine cover. It takes courage to promise less and deliver more, but this is the essence of good design It takes courage to promise less and deliver more, but this is the essence of good design: make a beautiful image that attracts and engages the reader. Your cover is a (visual) tool to draw your reader to the (written) content. For that split-second when the reader first sees the cover, aesthetics must take precedent for the process of seduction to begin. A text-heavy cover is shouting at a tiny, vanishing audience – the casual reader browsing a local supermarket or newsagent is all but extinct. If your cover is confident and clear, it will stand out in the crowd. 02. Own your cover image The Sunday Times (left) frames Tracy Emin from her distinctive arched eyebrows to her chin, her personality powerfully communicated in a daring crop. The New York magazine cover (right) demonstrates how a banal image can be electrifying when daringly cropped Unless you’re lucky enough to commission original artwork every month, you’ll mostly be faced with making covers from supplied images. Sometimes you'll be sharing an image with another magazine and almost certainly the internet, so you need to make your treatment stand out. One of the most effective ways to take ownership is to crop the image differently. Inexperienced designers will tend to use the source image unquestioningly as the cover composition, but experienced designers will look for different crops to make the cover unique. Imagine having a head-and-shoulders portrait as your source image. The obvious solution would be to have the head roughly fill the available area – so the face is as large as possible – and position coverlines accordingly. But by changing the crop you can radically alter the tone and deliver a fresh editorial message. Zoom in closer for a larger-than-life face, an instantly arresting image. Shrink or discard the coverlines to increase the cover star’s status, or type them on top of their face, so suddenly your story is more important than the star. Desaturate or even eliminate the colour to communicate a different tone. Or apply illustrations on top of the image to stamp your ownership. 03. Use special print treatments Despite paying for 100% coverage, Gist (left) uses foil sparingly to make a wonderfully classy cover. Wired Italia (right) applies a fluorescent Pantone pink to stunning effect Foils and fifth colour Pantones (an additional plate to the default CMYK) are the most effective way of triggering the magpie instinct in readers. The powerful physical presence of foil instantly lifts it above flat colour printing: it reacts to the light, changes tone depending on how it’s displayed and carries a unique currency of quality and luxury with consumers (which is why it’s the de facto choice for so many cosmetics brands). There’s no printing technique as reliable as foil to lend desirability and opulence to your cover. As foils are costed according to the percentage of the cover area they’re applied to, you’ll see quite a few titles foil their logo, not so many that lavish it from corner to corner. But however you use it, impact on newsstand is guaranteed. Pantone inks – especially fluorescents – are significantly cheaper and can radically weaponise your design. Explore the back catalogue of Wired (UK and US) for a thorough masterclass in fifth colour treatments. Spot UVs, embosses, dies-cuts and bespoke cover stock finishes can all be applied to maximise impact, and the best way of finding out what you’d like (and can afford) is to visit your printer. They will be manufacturing a host of other products, from food packaging to corporate brochures, so explore what materials, techniques and treatments might be available. Your printer wants your (repeat) business, so negotiation is not uncommon. 04. Make your cover work on social media Both covers stand out on newsstand but work just as well as thumbnails Social media is likely to be your biggest promotional tool and first contact with prospective readers. Your cover design must work both at newsstand and at a radically smaller size. Just as the music industry has embraced the miniaturisation demanded by the digital age, with album designs increasingly sparse and iconic, so magazine covers must work at different sizes and in different media. Reduce. Simplify. Email your cover to yourself and look at it on your phone. If it looks cluttered at that size and minor hits are illegible, are they worth retaining? What does your cover communicate about you when compressed to little more than an icon? Does it project authority or chaos? And use social media to promote your cover before it’s even on the newsstand. Create audience anticipation and give them a reason to look out for you. Post photographs of your best spreads, tag your illustrators and contributors, take advantage of the powerful reach of social media to make your cover (and issue) visible to the vast majority of people who aren’t in WHSmith that week. Don’t be afraid to use the internet to celebrate print. There’s no time to hold grudges. The two magazines above are so utterly confident in their own brands that they ignore any formula. Elle (left) brutally crops Emma Watson through her chin while eye contact is well below the midpoint of the cover. Even her name is essentially invisible, yet as a thumbnail, the white magazine logo condenses to be wonderfully clear. Bazaar’s cover (right) is equally bold, awarding Paltrow the entire cover but daring to hide her face. Both covers stand out on newsstand but work just as well as thumbnails. 05. Trust your reader (and your instincts) A ‘commercial’ newsstand Esquire (left) and ‘desirable’ subscriber cover (right) demonstrate the wild disparity at the heart of consumer magazine publishing. The perfect cover probably sits somewhere between these two extremes Many magazines publish two different covers for the same issue: a regular, text-hit heavy newsstand version, and a subscriber covers, usually stripped of words and featuring a more daring crop. The logic is that the subscriber cover doesn’t need to work at newsstand, so the loyal subscriber is rewarded with the cover they'd prefer. This practice reveals the low opinions many publishers have of the average reader, who they fear needs to be cajoled, hectored and bullied into parting with their cash. But are the two objectives (selling and looking good) really mutually exclusive? The best magazines dare to imagine that their readers are as smart as them, and design accordingly. Design is no longer a mysterious art – the aesthetics of Apple’s new OS are discussed at the water cooler along with the new Game of Thrones episode – and simplification and decluttering have become synonymous with quality. Similarly, trust your own instincts. If something seems wrong with your cover, even if you don’t know what it is, it’s still wrong. Take it all off and start again. Workshop as many different ideas as possible. Don’t waste time refining small details or honing type. Make it work as a whole, first. And don’t be dismayed if your editor asks you to try something else. If your cover needs explaining, it’s a failure. No amount of polish will save a fundamentally flawed idea. A spontaneous, radical new direction can deliver a killer cover in less than a minute, while bad covers usually take forever because they are, ultimately, never finished. They just get sent to the printers when there’s no longer any time left... Next page: five more ways to make your magazine cover stand out... 06. Mind your language Wired (left) is legendary for type-only covers, often employing eye-popping Pantone colours to make the text shout even louder. With a title as respected as Time (right), abandoning artwork reinforces the urgency and power of the headline As the designer you should know the language and editorial tone of your magazine as well as your editor. Each word is as important as the image, every sentence is another opportunity to reinforce brand values. Design is communication and therefore essentially an extension of vocabulary. Great covers should exhibit a seamless synthesis of words and imagery. For this reason, designer and editor should ideally work in unison on the cover. Designs batted back and forth between editorial and design are less likely to deliver a cohesive solution. That ‘what if?’ spark needs to be caught instantly and allowed to catch fire. The best editors will invariably have great instincts for design, and good designers will love words (or at least typography) as much as images. Type-only covers have become increasingly popular and the best examples demonstrate the art/editorial hybrid mind in perfect harmony. Provocative statements or urgent questions can engage the reader just as powerfully as an image, the subliminal message being: This is too important to waste time with a pretty picture. Type-based covers are difficult to pull off, but well executed treatments can make for powerful brand statements and inevitably stand out against cluttered competitors. If all else fails, do one thing and do it well: sell your cover line. And question the value of supplementary sell-lines. Additional hits should support and enhance the overall design, not exist for their own sake. 07. Be controversial Candy magazine’s Terry Richardson photograph of Miley Cyrus (left) might have been viewed as merely risqué in 2015. In 2018, it’s difficult to imagine it being published. Adbusters (right) seldom pull the punches with controversial subject matter, and it is impossible not to be struck by this stark, witty cover treatment. Would a top left bubble flash really help? Grab the attention of the reader and you have achieved your primary purpose: making the magazine a purchase option. But shock tactics aren’t appropriate for all titles, and shouldn’t be deployed gratuitously. Readers will be suspicious of cynical or engineered controversy. Context is everything and provocative covers are meaningless if they doesn’t support a genuine message. However if the editorial team do have a daring idea to communicate, your duty as designer is to amplify it. Of course, getting your magazine withdrawn from the newsstands is a very real danger. Magazines do get taken from the shelves and if you read your audience wrong, you’ll alienate them in the short term and damage trust in the long term. Sex isn’t the only shock tactic: religion and politics are probably the riskiest subject matters, and cultural tastes are fluid. A sexually provocative cover in 2018 will fall under much greater scrutiny than it might have done pre-#MeToo. Politically sensitive subjects should be approached with maximum caution, although provocative treatments may evade censorship (and rancor) if tempered with sophisticated wit. 08. Brand your own content Time keeps the cover star behind the logo, establishing a hierarchy of importance. Vogue Italia makes cover model Hadid huge, but the black, stamped masthead is dominant. Both magazines choose subjects that are of equal status to their own brands Your magazine is more important than your content. Whatever your cover, and however big a deal it is, your brand – the masthead logo, the identity, the values – are your primary concern. Your cover is more than just a billboard for your current issue, it is an ongoing advertisment of brand. A film magazine with an exclusive on the latest Star Wars movie might be forgiven for sacrificing their own masthead legibility in favour of letting the cover image dominate, but by transferring brand collateral over to your cover star, you make a subtle statement of subservience. During the design process, you should be constantly printing out your current cover and setting it against the previous half-dozen to see what, if anything, is happening with your brand. Over enthusiasm (or over-promising) can sometimes lead to brand-wounding cover treatments that weaken credibility and dilute authority. So be prepared (with your editor) to push back over supplied imagery and/or resist commercial pressures. In an ideal world, you will only run covers that share your values. Remember, your brand and your cover subject are inexorably linked, and if there are early doubts over the merits of your cover subject, it's better to address them immediately (and find another cover) than be forever haunted by your own back issues page... 09. Make your cover an event Multiple covers don’t have to be variations on a theme. Port took an opportunity to deliver two radically different covers for the same issue. The confidence this communicates to the reader is itself an affirmation of Port’s identity and brand authority Split-run covers can be an effective and cost-efficient way to get attention on the newsstand and generate social media interest. It’s likely your cover is printed four-up – four covers on one sheet of paper which are then cut down and bound – so supplying four different designs can cost next to nothing. Suddenly your new cover is not just about your latest issue – it’s an event. There’s something intrinsically satisfying about seeing variations on a theme. Simple transitions on social media of your different cover treatments engage reader attention and give an additional spin to your new issue narrative: which cover will you find on the newsstand? Suddenly your new cover is not just about your latest issue – it’s an event. And split-runs don’t have to even be for the reader’s benefit. They can be a valuable testing ground for new ideas or treatments. Why not print 75 per cent of your covers with a regular design, but put out 25 per cent with a more daring treatment, as a subtle piece of market research? Regular readers rarely have trouble expressing their preferences and audience feedback is always valuable. Part of the pleasure (and torture) of magazine design is that however many colour proofs you make, when the finished magazine comes back from the printer, its physical presence will always be slightly different to how you imagined it. Publishing straight to the internet is a brutally efficient, digital exercise – what you see is what you get – but printing magazines is analogue, mercurial and magical. 10. Pay attention to indie mags If God made magazines, they’d probably look like Migrant Journal (left), the undisputed indie hit of recent years. Port (right) is now an elder statesman of indie publishing, and its smart redesign shows it to be just as hungry now as it was in 2011 The success of the indie magazine market can be a source of anguish for mainstream magazine designers, who often look at their opulent production values and resolutely non-commercial cover treatments with hopeless envy. And whilst their largely subscriber-based/specialist shop distribution mean there are few practical lessons to be learnt from them, their energy, passion and enthusiasm offer a timely reminder of how magazines can still be valued as prestigious products to be celebrated on their own terms. Recent successes like Migrant Journal and Mushpit both radically rethink how a magazine can look and read: the former presenting deep content with a clinical precision closer to an academic journal (albeit beautifully designed), the latter brattishly throwing every convention of ‘good design’ out of the window and reengaging with readers in a playfully aggressive fashion. The (best) indies demonstrate the magazine format to be an infinitely mutable medium, capable of radical reinvention and continued relevance. It is the indie mags that have responded most readily to the challenges of existing in a digital world, championing the value of magazines in their own right. Adopting the (more often than not) wilful obtuseness of their cover designs is unlikely to translate to a mainstream, newsstand title, but there are underlying principles of audience engagement, brand-as-content and bold experimentalism that can be inspiring and instructive. Mark Wynne is the art editor of Computer Arts magazine, the world's best-selling design magazine. Subscribe to make sure you don't miss his next cover. Related articles: The ultimate guide to design trends 6 things to know about getting freelance clients Design a portfolio that packs a punch View the full article

Having raised almost $100,000 on Kickstarter – nearly $20,000 over its target – Design Canada, a documentary about the history of Canadian graphic design, is premiering this summer. It's five years since Greg Durrell, who is a partner at Hulse & Durrell, and his collaborators Jessica Edwards and Gary Hustwit began filming. The team thought they were finished last year, but ended up having to delay the release in order to rework a story arch. Throughout filming, they met the heavyweights of Canadian graphic design – the people responsible for the design thinking that ultimately shaped the nation. Watch the trailer below and read on for our exclusive interview with Durrell... What inspired you to start the project? Growing up in Canada, I realised I was surrounded by beautiful symbols and logos, but I could never really find any information about them. As my frustration grew, I decided to make a film about it. When I began the project I didn’t even know anyone who had made a film before. A mutual friend put me in contact with Jessica and Gary and a half-decade later, the rest is history. Did you discover any new design work? I feel like I discovered archives which had not been seen in decades. Tracking down Canada’s design pioneers was often a challenge. Little information existed about them online and when I showed up at their homes often I would be looking through their body of work for the first time. The Canadian design story was not documented in the same way as in the UK or US. Allan Fleming designed the CN logo in the 1960s In terms of my favourite design from the project, I think the CN Railway logo was the one which had the biggest impact on design in Canada because prior to that identity, Canadian companies had logos with frilly maples leaves, beavers and various kitschy-Canadiana elements. CN showed Canada that you could modernise and still be Canadian. Who were you most excited to talk to? Having the opportunity to interview Massimo Vignelli about Canadian design two years before he passed was a huge honour. Why do you think your Kickstarter campaign was so successful? I think there was a lot of exceptional work from that period that has not received the proper recognition that it deserves and people are curious to learn more. How did you keep motivated over so many years? The story was something I was very passionate about and I knew from the start that it would take years to complete. I believe that small daily habits can build into extraordinary outcomes, so motivation wasn’t a huge issue. I’ve always enjoyed long-term over short-term projects. Burton Kramer talks to Greg Durrell during filming Why did you decide to delay the film's release in 2017? The decision to delay the release was doing what was best for the film. We had a narrative thread that weaved some of our stories together, and it was not working. It was one of those situations where on paper it sounded great but in executive it was off and we knew we could fix it. This resulted in delaying our release nine months, blowing up our timeline, reshooting new stories and then reassembling everything. but it was worth it. Will the film help boost Canada's reputation? Regardless of what it does, or does not do for Canada’s international perception, I hope people take away that graphic design matters and it influences our lives every day. If we can become more conscious of it and use it as a tool, we can build a better country and ultimately a better world. Design Canada is screening in Canada this summer How can people see the film? Follow us at www.designcanada.com and on social @designcanfilm to stay up to date about screenings near you and the digital release at the end of the summer. This article will appear in Computer Arts issue 280, on sale on 29 May. Subscribe here. Related articles: Guess the extreme close-up logos Famous logos redesigned as fonts Can Melania Trump be best at logo design? View the full article

In this new media environment, where visuals are needed to catch people's attention, video editing is a must-have skill. Adobe Premiere Pro CC is the tool trusted by professionals, and you can become one with the Adobe Premiere Pro CC Masterclass, on sale right now for just $21 (approx. £16). Adobe Premiere Pro CC is the editing tool video pros trust. The best way to learn this powerful app is to go hands-on, and this comprehensive course will help you get to work with this do-it-all video editing application. You'll get 59 lectures and over 5.5 hours of actionable lessons, that will help you pick up skills that will look great on your resume, or just help you put together some great videos to put on social media. The Adobe Premiere Pro CC Masterclass usually retails for $200. You can get it on sale right now for just $21 (approx. £16). That's a savings of 89 per cent off the retail price for a course that will have you editing video like an expert, so grab this deal today! Related articles: The best computers for video editing 2018 6 best laptops for video editing 2018 The best video editing software 2018 View the full article

If you're on the hunt for some web design inspiration, look no further. Pixel Pioneers, a one-day conference for web and UX designers as well as front-end developers, is returning to Bristol's harbourside on 8 June, this time preceded by a day of workshops. Following on from last year's inaugural event, Pixel Pioneers Bristol will feature some of the brightest minds in web design and user experience, such as Ida Aalen, Simon Collison, Sarah Richards and Heydon Pickering. The talks will cover design systems, inclusive interface design, variable fonts, content design, how to influence users' perception of your site's speed, and more. You can also choose between two workshops on Thursday, 7 June: Easy and Affordable User Testing with Ida Aalen Psychology for UX and Product Design with Joe Leech Plus, An Evening Afloat With Shopify, a free conference warm-up aboard the Grain Barge will include an informal fireside chat with designers Mike Kus, Djuro Selec and Michael Flarup about their top tips for work-life balance in the creative and tech industries, and how we keep ourselves motivated, accountable and on track. The speakers (from left to right, top to bottom): Laurence Penney, Sarah Richards, Stéphanie Walter, Simon Collison, Heydon Pickering, Inayaili de León Persson, Michael Flarup, Ida Aalen Pixel Pioneers founder, former net magazine editor Oliver Lindberg says: "A lot of the big UK conferences are expensive and/or tend to be in London. Freelancers, small businesses and students often miss out on going to events because of the cost and the time sacrifice involved. I wanted to change that and create an affordable event with international speakers for local communities, right on their doorstep, so people don’t have to travel. It made sense to start in Bristol because the city (and the whole South West for that matter) has such a vibrant tech and digital community." Bristol has an amazing UX community, and I'm thrilled to be able to bring some true pioneers to the city Oliver Lindberg "I'm particularly excited about the focus on user-centred design. There will be a lot of talks, crammed with practical takeaways, that will explain how to make the web better and improve user experiences for everyone. Bristol has an amazing UX community, and I'm thrilled to be able to bring some true pioneers to the city, such as Ida Aalen, who will come all the way from Oslo to tell us how to do user testing with limited resources. "Or Sarah Richards, who created the discipline of 'content design' and leads the way in creating user-centred content. I'm also excited about adding workshops to the Bristol schedule for the first time. For example, as Joe Leech's psychology talk was so popular last year, I've asked him to come back to run a full-day workshop on UX psychology." Jeremy Keith kicking off the inaugural conference last year There will be plenty of networking opportunities, including an after-party with free drinks. Student and group discounts for five people or more are available. Please contact the organiser for details. Pixel Pioneers is also working in partnership with GWR to offer conference attendees heavily discounted rail fares to and from Bristol. If you're planning to travel on a GWR route, go to this page and select 'Bristol'. You'll get a London to Bristol return for £44, for example (this is for a fixed outward journey with flexibility on the return). You only need to be able to provide proof of attending the conference. We're offering an exclusive 10% discount for Pixel Pioneers Bristol, which applies to both the conference and the workshops. Just use the code 'creativebloq'. Related articles: Pixel Pioneers brings top web design expertise to Somerset Why research and testing are vital in web design How to design app icons View the full article

In total, Microsoft’s May Patch Tuesday roundup included 68 security patches, with 21 listed as critical, 45 rated important and two listed low in severity. View the full article

The flaws would leave the enterprise devices helpless to a range of remote threats, including the charms of the Reaper IoT botnet. View the full article

Adobe fixed critical vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player and Creative Cloud as part of its regularly scheduled May Security Bulletin, on Tuesday. View the full article

As companies continue to install the vulnerable version of Apache Struts behind the breach, Equifax has filed a clarification statement. View the full article