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Good etiquette might not be your number one priority at work. It won't necessarily help you with master responsive web design or nail the perfect user experience. However, in the close-knit web design community, you'll find that being a thoughtful and considerate designer can get you a long way. And so we asked seven top web pros: if you were writing a book on web designer etiquette, what dos and don'ts would you include? Here are their suggestions. 01. Don't be a shit "Stop being shitty to women," says Mule Design co-founder, Mike Monteiro. "Stop being shitty to minorities. We keep talking about 'building things for us' and 'building the tools you need' as if they're some brilliant idea, instead of the selfish mantras of entitled baby men that they are. I look around at our industry and I see an ocean of white men 'building things for us' and it's led to a toxic web. It's time to grow up." 02. Do share Communication is key for web standards advocate Bruce Lawson. "If you ask a question on a forum, and find out the answer elsewhere, post it so the next person with that question can find it," he suggests. "If you have an idea for a new web feature or API, tell the Web Platform Incubator Community Group – but share the problem you want to solve (not your preferred syntax or names). If you read a great blog post, or hear a great conference talk, take a moment to tell the author. It'll make their day." 03. Don't forget business goals If your project involves selling a product, don't forget to focusing on business goals alongside UX goals – making your client's business more profitable is your real aim here. "Make sure you immerse yourself in and understand the brand, the product and its users thoroughly before any 'design' begins," says Elena McGarry from Fingo. "Build trust with users by adding value to the site by showing clear product placement with visible, legible calls to action. Don't underestimate requirements for accessibility, compatibility and responsiveness. Exercise simplicity and brevity in content but take care not to be too simplistic. Users need smooth, uncomplicated experiences, not dumbed-down boring interfaces. Striking the balance while keeping the user engaged is crucial." 04. Don't make a mess Creative director Shane Mielke has no time for messy or disorganised source files. "Always organise your assets and descriptively name folders and layers," he insists. "It doesn't matter if you're on a huge team or the only person on a project. The more organised your files are, the easier it is for you or others to work with if you have to revisit projects months later. It's a matter of respect and personal pride, and it takes seconds. Imagine if a developer had a function called 'Copy of Layer 368' in their code. Would you employ a housekeeper that cleaned by hiding trash in drawers?" 05. Do be consistent "Make your own set of rules and stick with them," says digital designer Adelle Charles. "Set clear goals for what you want to accomplish. Follow a healthy process. For example, define, explore, refine, build and learn. Most importantly, communicate. Share and share often. It sounds simple, but communication with teammates while designing and iterating on work is most often overlooked. Don't gloss over the details. Grammar and content hierarchy are very important. Focus on users' interactions within the experience you're designing, and ensure you are telling the right story." 06. Don't be condescending Web designer Inayaili de Léon hates it when people lazily assume, and say, that someone else's work is easy. "One personal rule I try to stick to is to never tell someone that 'this will only take you five minutes' – and this applies not only to other web designers but to anyone. Hands up, I am guilty of sometimes forgetting my own rule, but it is something to keep in mind whenever you find yourself talking to someone about their work – and particularly if you want them to do something for you." 07. Do accept criticism gracefully UI designer and researcher Luke Jones notes that one of the most difficult elements of being a designer is gathering critique, because it can be tricky to remain composed when you're receiving negative feedback. "It is important for a designer to remove their ego from the situation, to remain respectful, understanding and accepting of the feedback, and to try to figure out a way to interpret it in order to create a successful design for the project. After all, this project is not ultimately about you – it's about your users and client." Illustration: Ben Mounsey This article was originally published in net magazine in 2016. Subscribe here. Related articles: 7 times you should turn a design job down Agile development: why and how to use it in your web and app workflow How to build on old IT systems View the full article

If you’re new to the world of 3D art and CGI in particular, you may feel that there are far too many tools to choose from. In my articles I aim to break everything down to the very basics, so that every artist can be armed with the knowledge of which tool is best. With that in mind, let’s explore materials and shaders by looking at Normal maps. 27 free 3D models One of the hardest things to do when starting to learn 3D is to model lots of details. There are many reasons for this. First of all, creating the detail is time-consuming, as is adding detail while making sure the polygon integrity of the model is maintained. And importantly, lots of detail can slow down application viewports or may not be eligible for game engines, and the workarounds, of course, consume more time. Thankfully though, these processes can all be sped up. There is a type of specialised image map called a Normal map, which can be used to add detail to a model without adding any extra geometry. A Normal map does this by taking three RGB colours which a 3D application then converts into height data. Normal maps are easier to export across 3D applications, rather than assets that depend on native modelling tools Mike Griggs This is incredibly powerful and has been used for years by game manufacturers as a way of adding extra detail into game assets. Of course this does not mean that Normal maps are exclusive to game developers – they can be a useful tool for all 3D artists. Complex sculpted geometry such as skin pore detail can be added by Normal maps to an animated model, without disrupting the polygon flow of the model, which has been optimised for animation. Normal maps can also be used in hard-surface modelling for adding items such as screws and rivets to models, to give the appearance of highly complex surface details without adding geometry that will slow down an artist’s viewport speed. Normal maps can be projected from a high-polygon mesh to an optimised mesh by most 3D software, to create highly optimised surface detail which looks identical at render time. As Normal maps are image-based, assets that have been optimised with Normal maps are easier to export across 3D applications, rather than assets that depend on native modelling tools. 01. What is a normal map? Colours in a normal map represent height A Normal map is nothing more than an image map that contains the relief data for a material. While there are other types of image maps that can aid in adding details to models such as Bump maps, Height maps and Displacement maps, Normal maps are easily distinguished by their usually pink/purple hue. This is because the colours of a Normal map represent a Height, Width and Depth value, which a 3D application can use to apply relief detail to a mesh where there is none. 02. Bake meshes Normal maps can be 'baked' onto low resolution models One of the main uses for Normal maps is to replicate high-resolution detail from a sculpted or scanned asset and ‘bake’ that onto a lower-resolution model. This model can then be used more readily as an asset in a scene as it has less overhead, or it can be more easily animated. Many applications allow baking of high-resolution meshes, so check to see if your chosen software can do this. If not, there are applications available such as the free xNormal that can. 03. Add details Details can be quickly added thanks to pre-made objects There are a range of methods for adding details to Normal maps, from screw heads to skin pore details. There are also 3D painting applications that come with normal objects already available as assets, or alternatively existing details in a Normal map can be simply copied and pasted in a 2D editing application. This can be a much quicker way to add surface geometry than by modelling, as well as adding less overhead to the geometry of the model. 04. Normal maps from photos Textures can be roughly generated from a smartphone photo There are a range of applications out there, from free tools such as xNormal to products within the Allegorithmic texturing suite, that can create Normal maps from photographs. While this method is potentially not as accurate as an actual 3D scan, these tools can create realistic relief details very quickly and easily and can serve to add an extra layer of reality to any texture set. Suddenly your smartphone can become a 3D texture creator. This article originally appeared in issue 236 of 3D World, the world's leading magazine for 3D artists. Buy issue 236 or subscribe here. Related articles: 30 greatest CGI movie moments of all time Push start on your 3D video game career Build a complex 3D sci-fi scene in Blender View the full article

When used well, CSS animation can add interest and personality to your site. In this article, we'll walk through how to create an animated effect that will make your typography appear gradually, as if it were being typed on a typewriter. You can see an example of the animation in action on the site for Crypton, a cryptocurrency trading bot. The effect is impressive and it's easy to implement, too. Read on to find out how to achieve this animation on your own site. Explore the new frontier of CSS animation 01. Document initiation The first step is to initiate the structure of the webpage. This consists of the HTML container responsible for storing the head and body sections. While the head section's main responsibility is to load the external CSS, the body section will store the HTML content created in step 2. 02. HTML content The HTML content consists of a container that uses the 'typing' class. This will be used by the CSS to apply the typing effect to any child elements. The child content element is made from a h1 tag, but you could use another element such as 'p' to create the element as a paragraph. 03. CSS initiation Create a file called 'styles.css'. The first step of the CSS defines the document and body containers to cover the full browser window without any visible border spacing. The default colours for the black page background and white text colours are also set in this step. Content elements within the page will inherit the colour set in this step as their default colour. 04. Typing children All children within the typing container are set to display over one line without the use of text wrapping. Most importantly, these child elements have the 'typing' animation applied to them. This animation is set to play over five seconds with 50 frame snapshots – allowing for the staggered typing effect. 05. Face eyes The effect is also accompanied by an animated face that appears to narrate the typed text. This step creates the eyes of this face as a CSS 'virtual' element using the after selector. The eyes are placed relative to the parent text, with its content set as two dot text characters. 06. Face mouth Like with the eyes, the face's mouth is made from a CSS virtual element – this time using the before selector. The mouth is positioned in relation to the parent text element, as well as having a border radius to appear with a rounded shape. The typingSpeak animation is applied; it will last for 0.5 seconds using two frames of animation. With the animation being repeated five times, the total animation time will be 2.5 seconds. 07. Animation definitions This step defines the animations referenced by elements created in previous steps. The typingAnim animation that has been used for the typing effect changes its element from no width to full width. The typingSpeak animation used for the face's mouth changes its element from appearing flat to more open. This article was originally published in issue 275 of creative web design magazine Web Designer. Buy issue 275 here or subscribe to Web Designer here. Related articles: Create slick UI animations Understanding the CSS display property Create an animated steam text effect View the full article

As a freelancer, there are many different ways to generate some extra cash – other than just winning more work, that is. In fact, depending on the amount of time (and sometimes capital) you can afford to invest, you could even find a valuable income stream to tide you over in quieter periods. Selling things is one method. These could be physical items that require some upfront investment, such as prints, or digital assets that just require your time and effort. Or if you've built a name for yourself and people want to learn from your experience, perhaps teaching could be an option. With a little imagination and a few negotiation skills, your existing client projects might become more lucrative than you were expecting, too. Knowing your own worth goes a long way, so long as you can convince others of it too. So if you'd like to boost your cashflow this year – and frankly, who wouldn't – read on to discover five effective ways to earn more as freelancer... 01. Increase your day rate Don't be afraid to increase your rates if you know you're worth it – just do your research first The simplest method of all is just to earn more for what you're already doing. That may be easier said than done, but it all starts with being confident in your value to a project and communicating that eloquently and persuasively. The ability to negotiate fees is a vital part of the design process. Don't be afraid to increase them, so long as you're professional about it. If it's an existing client who's used to your old rate, have a frank conversation at the start of a new project – don't announce halfway through, when the budget is set, that your rates are changing. Setting your rates in the first place is one of the biggest challenges for freelancers, and even the most seasoned creatives struggle to monetise their skills perfectly. Bill too high and you'll earn a reputation for being costly; pitch too low and you'll struggle to turn a profit. As well as upping your fee, you could also try a different method for calculating it. There are four key methods: a day rate (or hourly rate); a flat fee; a formula; or a more ad-hoc approach. Charging by the hour might seem straightforward, but it can mask the true cost of your work and not take other factors into account – like usage fees. Crunch some numbers; ask your peers; find out what works for you. 02. Sell digital assets Under the moniker Polar Vectors, Croatia-based creative Diana Hlevnjak sells textures, patterns, icons and more When it comes to bringing in some extra cash by selling your wares, the quickest and most cost-effective way of doing so is with digital assets – via the big stock libraries, or more niche online marketplaces such as Creative Market. With fairly minimal effort, it could be a way to let personal photographs, vector illustration experiments or rushes from video shoots that are sitting on a hard drive somewhere see the light of day – and potentially sell some of them too. Put some more effort into it, with some research into key trends and popular downloads, and you could make some proper cash. Versatile collections of digital assets for fellow designers to use in their own projects can also prove lucrative if you pitch them right, such as icon packs, background images, patterns, textures or brushes. If you’re good at it, it could even become a job in its own right. 03. Up-sell your services It's often worth suggesting adding an extra product or service to the pile – just don't be too pushy about it Pitching for work, particularly from new clients who have never worked with you, takes time and effort – none of which is billable. Sometimes, however, there are aspects of a job that an existing client might not have thought of commissioning you to do – or ways to expand and enhance a project in new ways. It's all about up-selling: but not in a second-hand car salesman way. No client wants to be treated like a cash cow or have expensive bolt-ons thrown at them constantly – you're not selling them a cable TV package either. Treat them like a collaborator, however, and contribute ideas to take a project to the next level and they should value your enthusiasm. Hopefully they’ll be prepared to pay for it too. This could be as simple as making them aware of skills they didn't originally hire you for: perhaps you're a designer with illustration skills on the side, or have coding experience, or are a dab hand at copy editing. Or it could be more about the scale and ambition of the project itself – killer ideas that lead to more work for you, but benefit everyone. Think creatively: you never know where it could take you. 04. Produce physical products Prints, postcards, stickers and notebooks are all within easy and affordable reach at MOO While it takes an upfront investment to move into producing and selling physical products, an online store on your website definitely has the potential to yield some extra cash on the side. Treat it as part of your existing self-promotional spend anyway, and you don't really have anything to lose. Prints, postcards, stickers and notebooks are all within easy and affordable reach if you use a quality digital print and design company like moo.com. If you're an illustrator or image-maker, it's a great way to turn your work into something tangible, collectable and, crucially, sellable without breaking the bank – and it makes the print process easier for graphic designers too. Just be careful not to overestimate your success, if your primary goal is turning a profit by selling products online. If it's your first time, test a relatively small batch of a product first to see how it fares – you don’t want stacks of unwanted merchandise on your hands. And if you hit the sweet spot and sell out, order more! There's some extra peace of mind if you use moo.com too: the MOO Promise effectively gives you a 100 per cent satisfaction guarantee. If there's any kind of mistake on the design – even if it's your fault – they'll fix it for free! No one wants a garage full of merchandise with an embarrassing typo on it, after all. 05. Inspire the next generation Designer and lettering artist Jessica Hische turned her self-initiated Daily Drop Cap project into an online training course Once you reach a certain level of proficiency and reputation, using your design skills to 'give back' is a popular pursuit. Work with schools and charities is usually altruistic, but teaching can bring in some extra cash too. Talking on the speaker circuit may be paid – with the general rule that the duller and more corporate the event, the higher the fee; the more dynamic creative and exciting, the opposite. It can raise your profile considerably, however, and lead to other opportunities. Alternatively, producing a course for an online platform such as Skillshare may require some investment of time upfront, but once it's produced you can sit back and enjoy the royalties. It's based on a membership model, and your revenue share depends on the popularity of your course – so if you expect to earn decent money from it, you need to be confident that there's an audience out there who are interested in what you have to say. Fill your online shop with top-quality merchandise by heading over to digital print and design company moo.com. You’ll find a wealth of fun, affordable, easy-to-use tools for creating premium prints, postcards, stickers and more – just add your design and you’re away. There's even a 100% satisfaction guarantee with the MOO Promise: if there's any kind of mistake on the design – even if it's your fault – they'll fix it for free! Disclaimer: This post is brought to you by MOO – an award-winning online print and design company. Related articles: 10 steps to go freelance this year Pro's guide to creating memorable business cards How to project your work onto the global stage 6 sure-fire ways to build your creative network How to nail the art of networking 4 brilliant personal logos and why they work 3 tips for crafting stunning print promo material Create better business cards in less than five minutes View the full article

If you're on the lookout for a laptop bargain, and you have the good fortune to be living in Australia, today could be your lucky day. That's because this flash Microsoft eBay sale has seen the price of a select Surface laptop model slashed by 20 per cent. The best laptop deals for 2018 Running until 22 August, this sale has seen some of the most popular and powerful products from Microsoft fly off the digital shelves. You'll have to be fast if you want to scoop up this bargain, as once stocks are gone, they're gone. To cash in on this incredible discount, just enter the code PSURFACE20 at the checkout and save 20 per cent on the listed price. Check out what's left to snap up with the deals below, and remember, all prices listed are in Australian dollars. Related articles: The best Microsoft Surface deals in 2018 Microsoft Surface Book 2 review The best laptops for graphic design in 2018 View the full article

Does search engine optimisation go over your head? As important as it is to ensure your website is ranking highly in search engine results, SEO can be a complex subject to understand and execute properly. But you can make your life easier with SERPstash Premium. This tool makes SEO easy by breaking the process down into easy-to-follow steps, teaching you to identify keywords that will help you rank higher and running an audit to find areas that need improvement. Find out which searches and websites are bringing the most web traffic to your site, and test to ensure your website looks just as good on mobile as on desktop. With a lifetime subscription to SERPstash Premium, you can transform your website -- for just $29. Related articles: Climb the Google rankings: How to master SEO 10 must-know SEO tools for search success 5 top tools to master SEO View the full article

The stats don't lie: social media posts with compelling visuals boast significantly higher engagement. On Facebook, it more than doubles, while tweets with images receive 150 per cent more retweets on average than those without. All of which means a killer social media campaign needs its visuals to be spot-on. A lot rests on how to find the best images for social, but for speed and efficiency, a dedicated design tool for creating these kinds of graphics can really come in handy. Fortunately, there are a few of these tools around. Many are free or cheap to license, and often come with a selection of pre-set crops for different platforms, as well as templates to make the design process quicker and easier, especially for non-designers in the marketing team. So read on for 10 dedicated tools for creating engaging social media graphics, without the need to fire up Photoshop... 01. Canva With over 10 million users, Canva is one of the most popular tools for creating social graphics With over 10 million users worldwide, Canva is the go-to tool for creating social graphics without the hassle. Thousands of templates and visual assets are at your fingertips for free, as well as dozens of fonts – this extends to hundreds of thousands if you subscribe for $9.95 per user per month. Canva's simple drag-and-drop interface is accessible for relative beginners, but with an eye for design you can create some pro-quality assets with minimal effort. Of course, the popularity of the tool means you might need to work a little harder to customise the most popular templates to stop them looking like templates. Preset sizes for various platforms are built in – including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest – and you can also work with custom dimensions for blog posts and other uses. 02. Piktochart Piktochart makes the laborious process of creating infographics much smoother and simpler If you pitch them right, and they have enough substance to them, infographics are some of the most shareable media around – particularly on platforms such as Pinterest. But they can be notoriously expensive to commission from scratch, especially if you're producing them regularly. While a bespoke approach can be beautiful if you have the time and budget, an infographic creation tool such as Piktochart can take the hassle and cost out of the process. Starting with a basic template, you can input your own data and images to totally customise the outcome. Like Canva, there's a free entry-level version to get you started. The range of templates is extended in the Lite version ($15 per month), but if you're using the tool very regularly then the Pro version could be worth exploring, at $29 per month. 03. iStock Editor With iStock Editor, you can crop and add text and effects to quality stock images straight from the library Finding the best images for social campaigns is half the battle, and free templates can only get you so far on that front. There are plenty of premium assets to choose from on iStock by Getty Images, and with the iStock Editor, you can turn them into compelling social graphics in a flash. The tool includes pre-set crop dimensions for different social platforms, so you can test your image of choice in situ before making a decision. You can even add filters and text right from iStock Editor, without ever starting Photoshop. 04. Snappa Snappa is dedicated to that classic social media staple: graphics overlaid with text Across all social platforms, one of the most popular types of branded image is a striking graphic, overlaid with stylish text. That simple format is at heart of Snappa, a very simple, single-purpose app that enables you to create polished, shareable images as quickly as possible. Like other apps of its kind, Snappa comes with a decent library of templates and various pre-set crop sizes, but the main emphasis is on getting the background image spot-on – whether you choose one of their free (and royalty free) options, or prefer to upload your own. Once your image is in place, the effects panel comes into play – you can darken, brighten or colour it to best suit the text you plan to overlay. Your text can also be easily edited with a range of options – font, size, alignment, spacing, opacity and a drop-shadow effect if the fancy takes you. There's a grid to help with alignment, and you can share directly from the app. With the free version, however, you're limited to five per month, and you also can't save your designs, so if you plan to use it a lot you'll need to upgrade: $10 per month for an annual plan, or $15 per month on a rolling basis. 05. Word Swag Word Swag makes it easy to create stylish social media graphics from the comfort of your smartphone If you prefer to edit and post your social media graphics on the move, Word Swag is a great option. Using this simple but effective app, you can add stylish text to your images direct from your phone, ready to post to your channel of choice. Choose from hundreds of thousands of free stock images from within the app, or upload your own if you prefer. Then either add your text, or choose a preset style from the Word Swag library. It costs $4.99 for iOS, and $3.99 for Android. 06. Infogram Like Piktochart, Infogram is designed to make the infographic creation process more straightforward. It comes with over 35 different types of charts and maps to present your data in a format that's ideal for sharing on social media. The free version gives you an entry-level selection of themes and layouts to choose from, which could be sufficient for occasional use – but if you have a constant stream of data to visualise, the paid version expands the selection and, crucially, also enables you to add your logo to the infographic. The Pro version will set you back $19 per month, or for really advanced users the Business version costs $67 per month. There's also a third tier – the Enterprise version – although you'll need to contact the team for a quote. 07. Pablo If you use Buffer to schedule your social media campaigns, Pablo slots neatly into your workflow From the makers of popular social media scheduling tool Buffer, Pablo is a minimalist image editor that integrates seamlessly with its sister application. Choose a free, royalty free image – or upload your own – and the straightforward dashboard gives you options to resize it for Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, add filters to adjust contrast, and finally overlay text or logos. You can add up to three text boxes to each image – these are labelled 'header', 'body' and 'caption' but in practice you can adjust them to your specific needs. Pablo also has a handy Chrome extension, so it's never more than a click away while you're browsing your favourite stock image library for inspiration. Best of all, it's free – you don't even need a Buffer subscription to use it. 08. Over Slick and intuitive, Over is popular with iOS users – but not currently available for Android Like Word Swag, Over enables you to create simple but effective graphics on your mobile – from social graphics to invites, wallpapers and more. The only catch? It's only available on iOS, which will no doubt frustrate Android users. Upload an image, and you can add a variety of shapes and graphics with a few taps, and swipe to adjust colours, fonts and spacing. It's beautifully designed, intuitive to use, and the results look and feel slick and professional. A free version is available, but for more advanced functionality you can upgrade to Over Pro for $9.99 per month, or $59.99 per year. Related articles: How to create a killer social media campaign 6 ways to find the best images for your social campaign The designer's guide to using images more effectively View the full article

If you've recently been debating whether to sign up to Adobe's Creative Cloud suite, now's the time to take the plunge. For a limited time only, you can join Creative Cloud for almost half the price, with Adobe knocking a whopping 40 per cent off the price of an annual membership until 27 August 2018. That means instead of paying the usual £49.94/¢60.49 every month, you'll pay £30.34/¢36.29 for the first year. When it comes to finding Adobe deals, discounts on Creative Cloud can be few and far between, so this is great news for designers, illustrators and artists wanting access to this professional creative software. So if you’ve been debating whether to sign up, now’s your chance to get hands-on with Adobe’s stellar suite of world-class design tools – and save some cash in the process. The offer is valid from today until 27 August 2018 and covers EMEA and individual sign ups only. Visit the Adobe website for full terms and conditions. Save 40% on Adobe Creative Cloud now What's included? Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers get full access to: The entire collection of 20+ creative desktop and mobile apps including Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, and Adobe XD CC 100GB of cloud storage, your own portfolio website, premium fonts and social media tools Up to 10TB of cloud storage available As you’ll know, these programs are fully integrated, meaning you can work between them (and devices) seamlessly – whether you’re out and about or in the studio. Built-in templates help you jump-start your designs, while step-by-step tutorials will help you sharpen your skills and get up to speed quickly. This special deal is a limited offer, though – it expires on 27 August 2018, so don't miss out. Related articles: 60 top-class Photoshop tutorials to try The designer's guide to becoming Adobe certified Adobe adds 665 fonts to Creative Cloud View the full article

The unpatched flaw would allow a bad actor to execute information-exfiltrating malware, backdoors, ransomware or any other kind of bad code he or she chose. View the full article

The issue impacts several content management systems, including Typo3 and WordPress, as well as widely-used PDF generation library TCPDF. View the full article

Having picked apart fonts for years over here on Creative Bloq, we're pretty tuned in to the fact that lettering styles can be rather divisive. After all, one designer's fun font is another person's Comic Sans (apologies to all the Comic Sans defenders out there). We like to think that we've noticed some typography trends this year, but what we really need is some hard data to give us a glimpse into which fonts people are actually using. Luckily that's just what the team at Icons8 have gone and done with its recent study. The results of this research can be found on the study's straight-talking website, Fonts That People Actually Use. Priding itself on exposing the cool fonts vs. the best fonts, this research explores which fonts are the most popular, what font combinations are the most effective, and whether or not designers actually follow these trends and rules. Icons8's study sifted through nearly one thousand websites to find the top fonts To gather its research, Icons8 analysed more than 900 websites from top Product Hunt startups. By checking the choice of typeface and font combinations on these sites, Icons8 made interesting and occasionally unpredictable findings. As it happens, Google Fonts lead the way in terms of popularity, font names are often misspelt, and our old friend Comic Sans is nowhere to be seen (apologies again to all the Comic Sans defenders out there.) As well as finding thousands of different typefaces, Fonts That People Actually Use also narrowed down the top 50 styles and the 50 most common font pairings. The styles that proved most popular include Open Sans, Roboto, Lato, and Montserrat. With a wealth of raw data to analyse, Icons8's findings are sure to appeal to type fans and data junkies alike. Related articles: The rules of responsive web typography How to improve your digital typography The 41 best free web fonts View the full article

You know it’s a mistake to accept every job that you’re offered – but when should you say no? When you start out as a freelancer, the temptation is to say yes to every job that's offered to you. But not every job is a good career move – and some could even end up costing you more than it’s worth in terms of work-life balance, stress, or even actual money. Here, seven designers explain where they draw the line. 9 things nobody tells you about going freelance 01. When expectations are unrealistic Designer Anna Negrini has some clever ways of spotting when a client is going to be trouble. “Situations that are deal-breakers for me include when the proposal has the words ‘superstar’ or ‘ninja’ in it – you probably won’t get paid; if the client estimates the time you’re going to spend on the project; or when the expectations are entirely unrealistic – £1,500 for a website like Gucci’s… really?” she smiles. “Sometimes, though, it’s just a gut feeling: I start sweating and I feel ‘trapped’. In these circumstances, I’ve learned to trust my instincts and just say no.” 02. When it’s in the wrong location If the job is in-house, make sure you consider where the job is, and the time and money required to get there. Location is the biggest deal-breaker for digital designer John Taylor – so much so, he’ll look into this before even discussing the project and looking at the brief. “Travel time and costs aren’t usually billable, so I need to ensure the job’s financially viable before agreeing,” he explains. “Travelling can also be tiring and stressful, so to ensure I maintain a good work-life balance I factor in what time I’ll have to get up in the morning and get home in the evening.” 03. When you won’t learn anything Krisztina Toth doesn't say yes to every job – and her portfolio looks great as a result When it comes to projects, full-stack developer Krisztina Toth looks for work that will help her advance her skills. “I draw the line at copy-paste sites and ‘coming soon’ pages, because even though they’re easy money, they offer no professional or personal development,” she says. 04. When the client is dismissive You can tell a lot about a potential client by the way they speak to you when they first get in touch. “Going beyond basic politeness, I look for people committed to their goals, with a clear vision of what they want to accomplish,” says Toth. “I instantly reject the ‘I could do it myself but don’t have the time’ type.” Creative director Stephen Dawe agrees. If a client thinks design is just about knowing how to use Photoshop, that’s a big red flag. “It’s our role as industry professionals to educate new clients on exactly what it is we do. Design is about problem solving, not just aesthetics. Moving forward comes down to whether they’re open to learning that or not.” 05. When the contract causes problems Any project should start with a clear contract that outlines everyone’s expectations, costs, and an estimated timeline. If the client gets funny about signing, step back. “When you don’t have that, the project often stalls and doesn’t get completed in a timely fashion – and as a business owner, that can get costly,” says designer Shelby Sapusek. She points out that if you’ve already created a development site, you’ve done the work regardless of whether it’s live or not. “I’ve experienced project stalls that have lasted for months – that’s a lot of extra cost if you don’t have an agreement beforehand,” she adds. 06. When the client doesn’t respect copyright Graphic designer Ranjit Sihat has no tolerance for clients wanting to use images where the copyright is held by someone else. “The relationship between client and designer should be based on trust, creating a unique design and selling the identity of the individual business, not someone else’s,” she says. While often these issues can be resolved, occasionally a client will refuse to listen, and push to include the image anyway. At that point, it’s time to walk away. 07. When it’s underpaid It should go without saying that for any professional designer, pay should be a major decider in the jobs you take – even when you’re at the start of your career. “If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s to not undervalue yourself,” says designer Cliff Nowicki. “The low-paying jobs and freelance gigs I took on earlier in my career were the most soul-sucking times of my life. However great a position seems in terms of environment and benefits, I can’t accept it if it’s paying half the market value.” While you might have family or loved ones that can help you out with financial responsibilities, taking on an underpaid job for ‘exposure’ or ‘experience’ rarely pays off – and has knock-on effects for the health of the entire industry. This article was originally published in net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 308 or subscribe. Web design event Generate London returns on 19-21 September 2018, offering a packed schedule of industry-leading speakers, a full day of workshops and valuable networking opportunities – don’t miss it. Get your Generate ticket now. Read more: 8 portfolio mistakes that drive clients mad How to write the perfect brief 10 time-sucks for creatives and how to minimise them View the full article

An analysis of the world's most-visited websites shows that vulnerable software, too much active content and large amounts of code execution open visitors to a raft of potential dangers. View the full article

Are you getting tired of beating your favourite video games? Perhaps it's time to challenge yourself in a new way and design your own. With Zero to Hero Game Developer Bundle, you'll be able to enter a brand new career path in no time at all. Practice creating a 3-D multi-level game using Unity, use Magicavoxel to build Minecraft-like visual effects, and leverage Blender to design low-poly game assets. Gain hands-on experience building games in Unreal Engine, and get introduced to game development techniques you'll want to keep under your belt for the rest of your career. The Zero to Hero Game Developer Bundle is all yours for only $49. Related articles: Design a playable avatar for a video game Push start on your 3D video game career 11 best video game character designs View the full article

The Cosmos Bank incident is only the latest, not the last, thanks to lagging security practices. View the full article

When it was first released, Modo quickly developed a reputation as the pre-eminent subdivision polygon modeller on the 3D art market. Now over a decade later, the latest version of the 3D modelling software steps into an increasingly rich landscape of competing applications all looking for new users. 27 free 3D models Upon opening Modo 12, it’s clear that there is a lot to like if you are an existing user. The UI has received some welcome enhancements such as quick-access buttons to the most common palettes and windows, and after the focus of Modo 11 on fixing bugs, Modo 12 feels very stable with improved UI interaction. This is evident in such intensive tasks as using the Boolean modelling paradigm MeshFusion with components being merged, subtracted, intersected and moved quickly and easily. Speaking of which, as well as the improved feel, MeshFusion has added surface strips that allow the creation of strip geometry onto the surface of a model rather than through the whole volume. This can be useful when creating interesting new modelling elements when the MeshFusion object is converted to a mesh, which would be time-consuming, if not impossible, using another method. Modo 12 features improvements to the Advanced Viewport renderer, and works well on OS X Throughout Modo 12 there are tons of even more handy improvements, from better performance in the Advanced Viewport mode, to the inclusion of the Hatchet Collection of Python scripts, which add a lot of really useful tools that can aid with polygon and topology creation. The glTF 2.0 ‘Facebook 3D’ format has been added as an export option with shader support which, alongside solid Unity and Unreal support, makes Modo 12 a great asset-creation tool for games and real-time engines. As with the previous release, expect Modo 12 to receive more tools and updates through its life cycle thanks to the three-stage release programme. This is good news, as for right now Modo 12 is a tough sell for new artists. It is a shame, for example, that the Modo VR beta was not integrated in this release, as moving around a Modo viewport with a VR headset is a really interesting and creative experience with a well thought-out toolset. The Modo 12 UI has been revised to allow quicker access to core palettes As mentioned earlier Modo 12 will be a welcome update for many artists who use Modo’s core modelling toolsets, but for potential new users or for those users who have been using Modo 12 as a full content-creation application, the updates to Modo 12 could be seen as at best a point update, not one that deserves a full new release. While Modo 12 works great on OS X, there are still some issues with AMD cards on Windows in terms of viewport performance and stability, which have been around for a couple of releases now. Once an artist gets used to Modo, it is one of the quickest modelling tools around, with an unparallelled selection toolset that is still a joy to use. But, the competition have been paying attention, and why would a new artist pay the hefty asking price for a new seat of Modo when the modelling tools in Maya, Cinema 4D, 3ds Max, Houdini, ZBrush and Blender have notably improved? Arguably by ‘borrowing’ many of Modo’s modelling innovations, each of those applications now offer wider, more established toolsets and ecosystems. The best 3D modelling software It is telling that the Modo community forum, which was once an energetic and vibrant place full of interesting production-level artwork, is starting to feel bereft and is now only really updated by hobbyists. While Modo is used by facilities and design houses, it tends to be only as a modelling tool, with a lot of the other functionality being handled by the more ‘capable’ and embedded content-creation applications. Modo 12 features better and clearer access to the cloud asset library of meshes, materials and other library assets As so many of the toolsets in Modo from animation to sculpting are starting to feel deprecated, it would be great to see Foundry reposition Modo as a dedicated modelling tool with less of the animation tools for a lower price, where it can compete with as well as complement tools such as ZBrush. At the moment, however, Modo 12 feels unloved by Foundry. While there is no question that the Modo 12 developers have made leaps in improving the core Modo offering, it is only really of value for existing owners or those such as design houses who really need a great subdivision modeller, which Modo still is. As the competition catch up, improve and overtake Modo in a lot of its core competencies, it is becoming much harder to recommend it for new artists, especially at the current price. A lot of nice updates to the core modelling toolset and some stability improvements cannot mask the fact that, at that price, Modo 12 is hard to recommend to new artists looking for a complete digital content-creation tool. Try a free 30-day trial of Modo Subscribe to Modo annually for $599 or get a custom plan This article originally appeared in issue 236 of 3D World, the world's leading magazine for 3D artists. Buy issue 236 or subscribe here. Related articles: The best 3D modelling software 2018 Illuminate your 3D work with Dome lights 6 expert tips for better 3D renders View the full article

Photoshop is one of the best photo editors around, but it can take a while to get to grips with its extensive toolset. Luckily, there are plenty of Photoshop tutorials to help you navigate it, including this one, which covers working with layers in Photoshop. Sign up to Adobe Creative Cloud with our exclusive discount Arguably the software's single most important feature, layers enable non-destructive editing, where you can make changes to images without having to make them permanently. Think masking on a layer mask rather than erasing parts of your layer forever, or even just duplicating your entire document to another folder while you do something a little risky to it. Layer masks fit into this category, too. They’re quick fixes that you can apply to layers to make them stand out from the layers below them. Best of all, anything you apply to your layers – whether it’s a glow, a shadow or even a complete remodel of it via a bevel – doesn’t have to be forever. How do you create a new layer in Photoshop? There are two ways to create a new layer in Photoshop: Choose Layer > New > Layer Click the New Layer button in the Layers panel Now that you know how to create a new layer in Photoshop, we're going to look at how you can use them, focussing specifically on Layer Styles. Just like other layers, Layer styles can be stacked, and by using the Fill, you can reduce their Opacity without changing the Opacity of the layer that they’re applied to. Remember, when you’re finished, if you wish, you can use the Rasterize Layer Style option to set it permanently – destructively, if you like. Let’s dive into how you use layer styles on a simple digital illustration, which is made up of a number of layers of selections, created with the Pen tool. 01. Make the most of bevel and emboss option Click on image (top right) to enlarge You can access bevel and emboss options by clicking Layer>Layer Style>Bevel & Emboss. You can also choose other layer styles from this window. Bevel and Emboss are shaping tools for giving your objects subtle contour and volume. They apply natural-looking highlight and shade to your selections, and you can even go as far as to pick a specific style and smoothness of the effect. Depth determines how dramatic the effect you’re applying is, and creates more or less light and shade. Size will determine how big the effect looks on the object, while then the Soften slider creates a rounded finish to the bevel. The Angle option will help you to align the light from a specific direction, and Global Light will enable you to have all objects with layer styles following the same light direction. Use the Contour feature to alter the texture of the bevel itself. Highlight and Shadow Mode are two sliders for completely controlling the light and shade, from how severe it is to how it hits the object. Use Overlay for both for subtlety, and use Screen and Multiply respectively for a more severe effect, for example. 02. Multiple ways of working with overlays Click on image (top right) to enlarge There are so many ways to fill a selection with colour, but Gradient, Pattern and Color Overlay in Layer styles are three of the most reliable. These colours will fill the object whether you move it or not, and you can even change the Overlay’s Opacity and Blend mode. You can alter the direction that you wish for the gradient or pattern to follow, by using the Angle icon. The Gradient box should be used for selections of colour, in a similar way to how you might clip a layer to another layer as a clipping mask. Overlays are capable of altering the Opacity or Blend mode to react in different ways. 03. Apply a drop shadow to your art Click on image (top right) to enlarge When working with layers in Photoshop, the Drop Shadow is one of the most versatile Layer Styles that you’ll come across. It’s not only used for the obvious, fuzzy black space behind objects, but it can be used for an almost unnoticeable way to make an object stand out in a painting. Distance can help position your shadow a little further away, and the Spread slider can control the density of your shadow. The size will determine how big it appears; reduce it right down to have a completely hard edge. Blend mode and Color are what determine how your drop shadow reacts with the layers below. Choosing a dark colour and Multiply will create a shadow effect, while a light colour and Screen will introduce more of a glow effect. And just like with the Bevel & Emboss section, Contour can help you to change the actual texture of the shadow, when combined with Noise. This isn’t commonly used, but is still worth experimenting with nevertheless. 04. Alter the intensity of light with the Glow layer styles Click on image (top right) to enlarge The Inner and Outer Glow layer styles are two of the most popular available for controlling light or shine. They’re mostly used just with a bright white colour, but this doesn’t mean you can’t apply them to other colours. Pick a colour and gradient with the options available. Using a gradient can be useful if you only want the glow to appear over some of the object. Opacity and Noise can help to define exactly how bright and clear the glow itself looks. Change the Blend mode too to alter the way the glow looks against the colours behind it The Elements box will help you to set a Choke and Size. This controls the intensity of the glow to a degree; the smaller these numbers are, often the more realistic it looks. 05. Emphasise an object's appearance with a Stroke Click on image (top right) to enlarge Perhaps the simplest layer style of all, the Stroke option is just a basic outline around the inside, outside or centre of your object. Change the colour and blend mode, and use it to make some selections stand out a lot more than others. If you choose the inside option for the Position, the stroke will likely have sharper edges; if you choose Outside, the stroke will curl around pointy edges in your selection. Centre is the midpoint of these two styles. The Size slider is the most important when it comes to Stroke. Use it to determine whether you want a thick, obvious line around your selection, or a hairline stroke to just subtly highlight a selection. The Color and Fill Type options are there to choose the important details. Again, use a gradient if you only want a partial stroke around your object. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX magazine issue 161; subscribe here. Read more: The 10 commandments of Photoshop etiquette 5 best laptops for Photoshop The 60 best free Photoshop brushes View the full article

The program focuses on potential abuse methods across Google's product-specific channels like Google+, Youtube, Gmail and Blogger. View the full article

If you’ve ever worked at a large company, you'll have probably encountered a situation where crucial information about how something works has gone missing – so this month we take a look at Slab, a new tool that provides a home for all your important info so it doesn’t get lost. There’s also a resource from Google engineering manager Addy Osmani, which provides great advice on improving mobile performance by doing smarter things with JavaScript, a really fun creative coding tool and much more. 01. Slab Keep track of important information about your team's working processes Slab’s purpose is to solve the problem of information-recording within organisations. In this Medium post the founder describes a scenario in which his company was acquired, and his team was tasked with integrating their product into the existing infrastructure of the parent organisation, but they struggled to find anyone who could tell them how. Eventually they tracked down the engineer who built it, who pointed them to a long-lost Google Doc that everyone had forgotten about. Without a proper home for the crucial information about how things work, this happens a lot, especially when staff move on and companies grow rapidly. Slab is designed to organise information about your company's working processes efficiently and keep everyone up-to-date, and it integrates with all your other tools such as Slack and GitHub. 02. The Cost of JavaScript JavaScript is the heaviest thing we send to phones - here's how to lighten the load This must-see resource from Google Chrome engineering manager Addy Osmani has some important data about how much JavaScript slows down your site on mobiles, as well as some techniques for reducing the bloat. He tells us that JavaScript is the most expensive resource we send to phones because it has the most potential to delay interactivity. And he says we should all be seeking to minimise its use by auditing and trimming JavaScript bundles, only loading code needed for the current page, embracing performance budgets, and looking for other ways to get the job done where possible. 03. Lighthouse Audit any live site to get an assessment of its performance and accessibility How well is your site doing in terms of performance, accessibility and best practices? This Google tool will tell you. It runs audits on any URL you feed into it and generates a report that explains why each audit is important, and what you can do to improve any aspects that are failing. As well as performance and accessibility, it can audit for SEO and Progressive Web App best practices. You can run it from Chrome DevTools, from the command line or as a Node module. 04. Pts A JavaScript library that will help you get started with creative coding If you’ve ever been tempted to try your hand at creative coding, this could be a great place to start – Pts is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to code animations, data visualisations and fun web-based toys. With a single line of code you can draw something that follows the mouse pointer around the canvas, and from there you rapidly progress to creating more complex interactions. There are plenty of guides and documentation to teach you how to use it, so you won’t be flying solo. Check out the demos at the bottom of the homepage to see what’s possible. 05. My Browser Get detailed information about users' browsers for debugging purposes Getting browser information from users for bug-fixing purposes can be slow and frustrating, so front-end developer and designer Andy Bell built this great tool to make it easy to get all the pertinent data. Instead of dealing with vague bug reports, you can send the user the URL of this tool, and a report on their system is automatically generated when they visit the site. They can then share the report URL with you so you can see their exact browser version, viewport size, operating system and other useful info. The creator has made sure that data is properly anonymised so users don’t have to worry about their privacy. You can read more about it here. 06. Dyslexie font A font that's easier for dyslexic people to read The designers of this font disregarded the principles of type design, and instead used the characteristics of dyslexia to create a font that is easier for dyslexic people to read. It's designed to minimise the effects of common reading errors – for example, letters are heavier at the bottom to help prevent them from being perceived as being upside-down; the openings of letters are enlarged so that they are more easily recognised; and capital letters and punctuation marks are bold to emphasise breaks and endings of phrases. It's received great feedback from users, so it’s a good option if you want to make your site more accessible. 07. Notist An online repository for your public speaking profile The team behind Perch CMS have created Notist, a place to create a public speaking portfolio so you can display slides, links, feedback, tweets, photos and everything connected to your talks. You can add a future schedule so that people can see where your next talk is, and have a resources section for conference organisers so they can download your headshots and other materials without needing to contact you. It’s free for casual use, and there’s a Pro account for regular speakers. It’s also a great place to browse and discover interesting talks. 08. StyleURL Try out CSS changes on any live site StyleURL generates a URL that you can use to preview CSS changes on a live site – it automatically loads your CSS changes into the existing site, so you can see what your changes look like and also share them with others. StyleURLs are saved in a Gist in GitHub so that you and others can easily update them later. 09. Flexible Typesetting by Tim Brown How to do typesetting when you don't know exactly how your text will appear Tim Brown is head of typography at Adobe and in this book, which Ethan Marcotte describes as “an absolute delight to read”, he explores how we can seek to set online type successfully, while navigating the difficulties that arise when we don't know exactly how our text will appear. Rather than choosing parameters for text, we design our websites to do that for us depending on the conditions in which our work is being consumed – this book guides you through that thorny process. 10. Moceen Create an image of your site displayed on different devices This simple app makes it easy to create an image of your app or site being displayed on a device of your choice. There's a selection of several mobile and desktop devices – pick one, and then upload the screenshot of your site to immediately create an image of it on the device that you can share with clients or use on your website. Related articles: Beware the cutting edge of web design 5 techniques to help you find your ‘flow state’ Agile development: why and how to use it in your web and app workflow View the full article

It's been 10 years since Evernote hit the scene. Throughout the last decade, the mobile note-taking app has been there to help us record ideas and remember what we're doing. To celebrate its anniversary, Evernote released a rebrand and new logo design earlier this week, after partnering with DesignStudio to bring its vision to life. This involved a long, hard exploration of what the Evernote brand meant and stood for, to create a design that signalled change – without reducing brand recognition. On Evernote's Medium post about the overhaul, it's interesting to see the team acknowledge that there's more to a rebrand than simply changing a logo. The new design (above) is a polished – yet contrasting – version of the previous iteration (below) and gives a good indication of the concept underlying the design: this is a brand that’s rooted in heritage, but has expanded into new areas. We'll never forget the old Evernote logo A purer colour palette, refined shape and more sophisticated font can all be found in the new logo. To keep the redesign focused, the teams kept a number of questions in mind at every strep of the rebrand. Namely: is it distinct? Does it embody the DNA of the brand? And is it better than what they already have? These considerations also influenced the new typography, textures and photography on the Evernote app and site. Mads the elephant logomark almost got the chop. “We asked DesignStudio to go for range, to frighten us, make us uncomfortable,” says Evernote CEO Chris O'Neill No design element went left unchallenged during the rebrand process. At one stage, even the familiar Evernote elephant mascot, Mads, almost got the chop in favour of a different logomark altogether. Our brand now reflects our broader purpose Chris O'Neill "Throughout the process of evolving our brand, we have looked to our past for inspiration for our future," explains Evernote CEO Chris O'Neill. "We started as a place to remember everything, and that will never go away." "But bringing ideas to action and helping people to work together have become equally important to our customers, and therefore equally important in the products and experiences we build. Our brand now reflects our broader purpose and is a public declaration of our excitement and optimism for Evernote’s future." The rebrand isn't over yet though. Evernote's redesign is set to change and evolve along with the company, but you can watch the first step towards the new look in the video below. Related articles: New Burberry logo is stripped of knighthood Help design the new Firefox logo The best logos of all time View the full article

The method could be used to deduce the age, sex, likes or the location history of a user – essentially, the attacker can play “20 questions” to profile the victim. View the full article

If you want to stay competitive in today's workforce, you'll need to constantly be educating yourself. And unlimited knowledge is exactly what you'll get with SitePoint Premium Courses: Lifetime Subscription. With this subscription, you get premium access to a massive collection of courses, e-books, tutorials, and more on all different kinds of topics. Whether your interest lies in blockchain technology, JavaScript coding, web design, or project management, you'll find training opportunities to learn important skills. Increase your employability in the workforce, and become a better employee at your existing job. Enjoy unlimited downloads, and get immediate access to new content when it becomes available – new stuff is added every month. Try SitePoint Premium Courses: Lifetime Subscription for just $39.99 (£31.47). Related articles: Customise sites with these responsive WordPress themes 28 outstanding examples of CSS Why you really do have time for creative side projects View the full article

There’s no hiding it: we’re genuinely excited about the talk Sarah Parmenter will be giving at our Generate London conference on 19-21 September. She’ll be addressing a subject that’s increasingly important in our industry, yet not often talked about. “[I’m looking] at how everything we’re learning about social media at the moment needs to be wrapped into web design,” she explains. “I believe this is as important as learning about responsive web design was back in 2012 or 2013. Nowadays, we have to understand marketing strategies and there are loads of other elements to our jobs that are growing beyond just dealing with code.” Of course, some companies think social media means they no longer need a website at all but Parmenter dismisses these as outliers. “The majority of firms still recognise the need to have a website; a base of their own online,” she says. “However, the sea-change we’re experiencing is more about the decreasing effort that people are putting into that base.” Changing client priorities Clients, in short, are moving their priorities away from website maintenance and more towards Facebook advertising. “But what they don’t realise is that the whole thing needs to work together,” she points out. “It’s not enough to just have great Facebook advertising, for example, if the call to action on your website doesn’t instil confidence in someone to buy your product. So the whole thing feels like a house of cards at the moment. If it’s not all lined up properly, the whole lot falls down.” Keeping everything working together properly is an increasingly onerous job. But it’s one that’s mainly being dumped on web designers. “The job has been growing into a beast,” she says. “Most of the people in this industry love what they do. But we’ve been bolting on all these extra facets to our jobs, and we’ve not really been putting our prices up in line with the new skill sets that we’ve had to learn.“ “For example, when responsive web design arrived, everyone was really excited about it, but it was really hard work. I remember having to sit down and relearn everything: it was like when we went from tables to CSS layouts. Yet no one’s rates really went up in line with that.“ “And nowadays, I feel like understanding marketing strategy and social media, and how we actually design for that, is another bolt-on to an ever-growing job title that doesn’t really reflect the totality of what we do any more.” In fact, she’s not even sure whether the job title ‘web designer’ is still useful. “Employers keep adding to it,” she complains. “I’ve spoken to so many web designers at conferences whose boss has told them: ‘Our social media account is on the web, you’re the web person, you’re now our social media manager as well.’ And they’re like ‘Wait? What? How has that been rolled into my job title?’” It needs the whole industry to collectively say: ‘Right, we’ve been too cheap, too long’. People need our skills, so we all need to collectively understand just how much goes into what we do these days, and collectively raise our rates. Sarah Parmenter So what’s the solution? “It needs the whole industry to collectively say: ‘Right, we’ve been too cheap, too long’”, argues Parmenter. “People need our skills, so we all need to collectively understand just how much goes into what we do these days and collectively raise our rates.“ “That’s a very difficult thing to do, of course, and I don’t have any easy solution to how to go about that. But we need to face up to it as a profession; this isn’t a problem that’s going to go away.” In the meantime, her talk at Generate London will be full of real-world advice on how to make our web designs work with social media. “It’s a practical talk,” she stresses. “It’s about how to look at audience insights, how small changes to the way you work can help you add value. Essentially, I want people to be able to go to their boss and say: ‘I’m doing all these things and I’ve identified a brand new market that we should be targeting: please can I have a pay rise?’” This article was originally published in issue 309 of net, the world's best-selling magazine for web designers and developers. Buy issue 309 or subscribe to net. Want to hear more from Sarah Parmenter on making the most of social media? Sarah Parmenter is giving her talk Digital Marketing Strategies for the Busy “Web Master” at Generate London from 19-21 September 2018 If you're interested in learning more about marketing, make sure you've picked up your ticket for Generate London from 19-21 September 2018. An award-winning designer with clients including Adobe, Ellen Degeneres, Apple, Blackberry and News International, Sarah Parmenter will be delivering her keynote – Digital Marketing Strategies for the Busy “Web Master” – in which she will discuss the idea of quarterly website design reviews with a “design once use everywhere” mantra. She will also dig into the ever-changing world of Instagram algorithms, Facebook marketing and topical social media takeaways for immediate implementation. Generate London takes place from 19-21 September 2018. Get your ticket now. Related articles: 10 must-have social media tools for artists and designers 15 power tips for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram How to create a killer social media campaign View the full article

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to work at Pixar? Or see what goes on behind the scenes? Well, wonder no more, friends, as the latest issue of 3D World reveals all. Discover the secrets to the studio's success, covering some of its most popular feature films, from A Bug's Life to The Incredibles 2. And if that wasn't enough excitement for you, issue 238 also takes an in-depth look at the art of the action sequence, revealing the tools and tricks used on Solo: A Star Wars Story and Deadpool 2. If it's more practical content you're after, the 3D World team has you covered there too. This issue is packed with training, including tutorials to help you master the creation of clothes and props for iClone, and build a tracked visual effects sequence in Apple Motion. There's also the regular Q&A section to help you solve your CG problems and you'll find reviews of the latest tools, from Vue to Oculus Medium. Buy 3D World 238 now Here's more detail on what you can expect in this issue... Feature: Inside Pixar Meet the artists making the movies at Pixar It's the one you've all been waiting for. Go behind the scenes of the world's most infamous animation studio as we talk to the artists making the movies at Pixar. I Feature: Ready, set, action! Hollywood's action secrets uncovered In this action-packed feature, Trevor Hogg encounters a sarcastic mercenary and a galactic smuggler while uncovering the action-scene secrets of Deadpool 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Training: Designing 3D garments Take the hassle out of clothing characters with this expert tutorial This guide will take you through the process of creating realistic apparel for your characters . Training: Create a fun character in ZBrush Swan Lake, anyone? Who says crocodiles can’t be ballerinas? Well, we’re about to make that dream come true with the power of ZBrush. Training: Create a tracker in Apple Motion 5 Get your subjects under surveillance with this handy motion tracker tutorial Discover an easy-to-use MotionTracker in Apple’s Motion 5’s graphics software. Feature: Crafting the world Image Engine, Scanline VFX, RISE FX and Rodeo FX discuss the tools and techniques they used to build the natural worlds for some of their recent projects Ian Failes explores the building of natural worlds with VFX studios behind some of the biggest recent film and television projects. Read more: How to model concept art in Cinema 4D Free textures: 40 top textures to download today 6 expert tips for better 3D renders View the full article

The tricky Cortana flaw, CVE-2018-8253, was addressed by Microsoft during Patch Tuesday. View the full article