Rss Bot

There are lots of ways to store your files, but computers can crash, external hard drives can be misplaced, and USBs disappear all too easily. That's what makes cloud storage such a great solution. For only $74.95, you can try out Zoolz Cloud Storage: Lifetime of 1.5TB Instant Vault and 1.5TB of Cold Storage. With this combination of Instant Vault and Cold Storage, you have a convenient way to store both files that you regularly access and also files that you rarely revisit. The files in Instant Vault are immediately accessible at all times, while the files in Cold Storage can be retrieved in just three to five hours. With this deal, you can enjoy features like bandwidth throttling and icon overlay, which help ensure a smooth user experience. Trying to remember what you've already stored? Feel free to preview stored data via the mobile app that you download on your smartphone. Get this deal for $74.95. Related articles: 9 security tips to protect your website from hackers Google's free cloud storage app is finally here How CodePen made itself secure View the full article

Certain tools for designers are likely to make the default shopping list for any agency or freelancer. These include essential hardware, creative software, project management tools and more. There are also some great tools for working remotely as a freelancer, as well as some innovative gadgets for a smarter studio. Read on to discover four new tools for 2018 that you never knew you needed, but could make you rethink how you work... 01. Stitch Stitch is a brand-new tool to help agencies manage their network of third-party collaborators Freelance collaborators are becoming increasing essential to supplement in-house staff on projects, but there are very few tools to help agencies manage that shift in working processes. Step up Stitch, a new tool from the makers of Easle. Stitch is designed to help agencies and production companies manage their creative networks. If, like most agencies, you currently rely on an unwieldy spreadsheet, Stitch will convert it into a living 'little black book' that automatically pulls in up-to-date examples of work from your contacts' portfolio sites and social channels. The result is a visual database of all your contacts, which you can search by keyword, status, location and price range to make collaboration a breeze. It's also possible to create easily shareable shortlists of potential talent for the team, the client, or other collaborators, as well as attaching internal notes, NDAs or contracts. It'll even help keep you on the right side of GDPR regulations. Stitch is definitely a tool you never knew you needed, but could have a real impact on many agencies' workflows. It's a new launch so will take time to build a critical mass, but you can sign up for a free trial to test it out. 02. ColorSpark ColorSpark is an incredibly simple way to discover new colours From an ambitious tool that streamlines your entire workflow, to an incredibly basic one that relies, rather quirkily, on randomness and serendipity. Created by Luke Johnson, a digital information design student at Winthrop University, ColorSpark is a simple but effective way of finding a unique colour or gradient to use in your next design or illustration project. Just hit the 'generate' button for a new Hex code, displayed in the swatch above. Ok, so it's a bit of fun, and a stretch to say you need this tool as such – but when you're struggling for colour-based inspiration, ColorSpark could surprise you by striking you with a beautiful hue out of nowhere. 03. Wild Cards Launching in August, The Clearing's Wild Cards microsite could help you rethink your creative process The Clearing's ongoing Wild Cards project challenges how brands, and agencies, think about themselves – and as such, is a fascinating and innovative way to get the core of the creative process in a sharply focused, honest way. Working with The School of Life, the London-based branding consultancy developed 100 provocative questions, designed to help explore a brand from new perspectives. Packaged in a stylish collectable box, the Wild Cards are a genuinely useful tool to help galvanise the creative process. The agency has since gone on to organise a series of panel-based events with big-name brands, structured around some of the questions, to get to the heart of how they tick – at which boxes of the cards are given to attendees. Also launching in August 2018 is a mobile-optimised microsite, through which you can submit your own answer to one of the probing questions, and read others' submissions. The best answer each month will win a box of the cards. 04. Vectary Vectary brings simple 3D modelling capabilities to anyone, without the cost or time investment of other software Most 3D design tools are prohibitively expensive, time-consuming to learn, or both. Online collaborative design tool Vectary was created to make 3D as accessible, intuitive and fun as possible. Pitched as 'like Google Docs for 3D design', Vectary 2.0 launched in June 2018 with a view to changing how design teams create 3D content for web, AR or VR. Now, remote teams can create and collaborate seamlessly in a shared online space: each 3D scene can be edited, or commented on, by multiple users in real time. Vectary comes with a 3D toolset with built-in HD rendering, incorporating sliders and modelling tools within the browser, as well as a library of 3D objects for beginners to drag and drop into place. The results are saved to the cloud for easy sharing. Paid plans start at $19 a month, although many tools are available on the Free plan. Related articles: The design agency survival guide 12 essential tools for graphic designers The ultimate guide to design trends View the full article

You're reading Everything You Need to Know About YOOtheme, a WordPress Theme and Page Builder, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Looking for a great page builder to help jumpstart your website design projects? YOOtheme Pro is a powerful theme and page builder for WordPress. It has everything a designer needs to create a neat design and is packed with premium … View the full article

Dasan and D-Link routers running GPON firmware are being targeted by hackers in an attempt to create a botnet. View the full article

Criminals have found a mischievous way to mine cryptocurrency. Security researcher Troy Mursch sounds off on why this tricky trend isn't going away anytime soon. View the full article

Airport TSA agents don’t check terminals for insecure WiFi networks, so stay on your toes when using hotspots at these airports. View the full article

Starbucks and McDonald's are high street competitors as far as selling coffee on the go is concerned, but they've put their differences aside to address a major packaging design problem that's been plaguing retailers and consumers alike. Earlier this week it was announced that this pair of mega-brands have joined forces to build a fully recyclable, compostable cup within the next three years as part of The NextGen Cup Consortium. With shoppers become increasingly eco-aware, this sure to be a welcome move. Recent initiatives have seen shoppers demand an end to single-use plastic straws, so it makes sense that Starbucks and McDonald's are wracking their brains to come up with a cup design that includes a lid and a straw. Add the fact that Chipotle, Subway and Burger King have started charging for straws into the mix and the idea for a more sustainable, economic solution is a business no-brainer. Photo by Joshua Austin on Unsplash A new cup design isn't the first step Starbucks has made towards creating better packaging. Recently the coffee chain announced a 2020 initiative to ban straws altogether and replace them with lids. Even though both companies' cups are technically recyclable, in reality they're not always disposed of correctly. Speaking of the partnership, Colleen Chapman, vice president of Starbucks’ global social impact overseeing sustainability, said, “We’ve been at this for a while [alone], but we were getting tired of incrementality.” The NextGen Cup Challenge, the initiative behind the replacement cup design, invites entrepreneurs to develop more sustainable designs. Grants are available to help develop good ideas, as well as to help startups combine them into market-ready solutions. Starbucks set it up earlier this year, with McDonald's joining recently. With the weight of their combined brands behind the project, the pair hope to effect real change and shake-up how the fast-food industry tackles its ecological footprint. "In food safety, there's no competitive advantage," says Marion Gross, the McDonald’s chief supply chain officer for the United States. "We all have to come with solutions and make sure we’re watching out for the public’s interest." "It's a societal issue, and there's a way that we can come together, not as competitors, but as problem solvers. We can use our collective scale to make a difference." [Via Fast Company] [Photo by Charles Koh on Unsplash] Related articles The most shared logo on social media revealed 8 iconic American logos that changed branding forever 10 iconic logos hilariously drawn from memory View the full article

The right web design tools can help ensure a fast, efficient and smooth path to the final live design. A great starting point is getting any prototypes right and then selecting the right build tool for the job. Check out this selection to help you achieve design glory. If you can't find what you're looking for, take a look at our roundup of 10 top prototyping tools. 01. InVision InVision offers a way to string together individual static designs in order to create user flows. The tools are simple and easy to use, and allow syncing directly from Photoshop and Sketch before linking designs together. With powerful collaboration and comment features it’s clear to see why so many designers use it. 02. Figma Figma touts some impressive features, but the browser-based editor and cloud saving is the difference between most other design and prototyping tools. Figma 2.0 introduced new prototyping tools, bringing the abilities of multiple Adobe apps into one desktop and browser-based tool. 03. Marvel Wireframe, prototype, design online and create design specs in one place with Marvel Marvel, much like Figma, provides an all-in-one experience for design, prototyping and collaboration. The design UI is simple and beautiful, while offering all the tools you need. Marvel’s prototyping tools enable both high and low fidelity prototypes to be created easily. 04. Axure Axure is a wireframing and prototyping tool primarily aimed at software development. Axure isn’t trying to offer everything. Instead, it offers really powerful tools for rapid prototyping, diagramming and documentation and it does them well. 05. Gulp A toolkit for automating painful or time-consuming tasks in your development workflow Gulp is a frontend build tool used to perform any number of functions from compiling SASS to building SVG sprites. Gulp will save you time and perform a lot of the repetitive tasks required, enabling you to concentrate on writing code and building applications. 06. Grunt Another frontend build tool that’s used in the same way as Gulp with the aim of saving you time and effort when building the frontend of any website or app. These tools have become an important part of frontend development due to their ability to perform repetitive tasks. 07. Yarn Get fast, reliable, and secure dependency management with Yarn Yarn is a package manager. It works much the same as Node Package Manager (npm). Yarn caches every package making it incredibly fast to download and install dependencies, and with all of the same packages as npm so you can easily make the switch. 08. Webpack Webpack is a JavaScript module bundler that enables you to keep your JavaScript files small and focused. In its simplest form Webpack will then bundle them all into one minified JS file which can be included in your website or application. Discover more at Generate London 2018 Learn more from leading experts. Get your ticket today Related articles A guide to rapid prototyping with Photoshop CC Perfect prototypes and hand-off designs with Marvel How to avoid prototyping pitfalls View the full article

Even with the best of ideas, and even if you're the art director, sometimes convincing your client that your idea is the way to go is the most difficult part of the design process. But Canadian design studio Bruce Mau Design is adept at doing just that. We spoke to CEO Hunter Tura to find out how the studio wins over clients from all over the world, including ASICS, Sonos and The V&A. Read on to discover his top three tips for winning over clients... 1. Make it about them, not you Bruce Mau Design helped to re-envision Metrolinx’s “higher purpose” as one of creating connections between people, places and transport hubs When I pitch business to a client, I spend very little time talking about us, and a lot of time talking about them. They’re generally aware of the work: they’ve seen the Sonos project; they’ve seen our work with Unilever. They don’t have to spend the next hour hearing about that all over again. It’s like going out on a date and all you hear about is the girl’s six last boyfriends. The client doesn’t want to hear about our last six boyfriends. They want to talk about what we could be doing together. 02. Make the client a collaborator Bruce Mau Design worked with China Merchants Shekou Holdings and the V&A on branding Design Society Ola Bowman is the director of the Design Society museum we collaborated with in China. But he’s an incredibly sophisticated thinker about design in his own right. So I said: why don’t we co-creative direct this project together, rather than me being the designer and you being the client? And it worked brilliantly. Knowing the people that were paying me also had a role in the creation of this thing – and that I was leveraging the intelligence of one of the world’s leading design thinkers – certainly made my job a lot easier. Essentially, I don’t care how I’m credited; I care that our work really helping drive organisations forward. You can call me the dishwasher if you want. 03. Manage client expectations Bruce Mau Design developed a global brand identity for ASICS Tiger Imagine going to a bakery and asking for the person there to bake you a cake. Imagine the guy tells you he’ll bake it at 350 degrees and it will take an hour. But you say: ‘That’s no good – bake it at 575 degrees because I need the cake in 15 minutes.’ The baker’s going to tell you: ‘Well, I could do that, but I’m telling you, baking it at 350 is how the cake is going to taste the best.’ It’s a similar thing with clients. When they ask, ‘Can you complete our project in two months’ less time?’, we say that we can – but that this runs the risk of it not turning out quite right. It’s a pretty simple concept to grasp if you explain it in the right way. This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the world's leading magazine for graphic designers. Buy issue 279 or subscribe here. Read more: How to turn clients into friends How to manage a huge client 5 things clients really want (but probably won't tell you) View the full article

Get ZBrush2018 now: $895 (new) / free (upgrade) Another free update from Pixologic! There can’t be many software development companies that give their annual upgrade away for free, but Pixologic still manages to do so. This version sees a naming convention change, going from 4R8 (Version 4 Release 8) to the year number 2018. This update may not be the biggest it has had, but the new features are incredibly powerful and most definitely a great addition to the creative toolset. Free textures for 3D artists First let’s talk about the addition of Sculptris Pro. Pixologic acquired a piece of software called Sculptris a few years ago and gave it away for free ever since. It was a Voxelbased sculpting package and apart from initial tweaks and changes in the first year or so, it has remained fairly static. With this latest ZBrush iteration they have added a button into the main interface called Sculptris Pro. While not a Voxel feature inside ZBrush, what it gives you is the ability to work on your mesh and have it decimate/ tessellate (make triangles at different sizes) in the area you are working dynamically. For example, if you sculpt a nose and it needs lots of detail it gives you more polygons to play with, unlike DynaMesh which averages the polygons across the entire mesh. There is even a ‘Tessimate’ button (a new word which seems to be a combination of decimation and tessellation) to call the function without activating Sculptris Pro from the interface. In essence, it helps you to sculpt more detailed characters without really thinking about the resolution. There is no need to mask areas and subdivide locally. As you are sculpting you may come to a point where you would subdivide your mesh or DynaMesh when you need to get more details. It might be whilst you are adding clay. It might be after you have added new geometry with some of the new deformers we will mention later. Or simply when you are detailing the surface of your mesh. It works with most brushes and intelligently gives you enough triangulated polygons at the time you most need them. There are now 27 deformers available to you and the most powerful new one is the Project Primitive This version also adds to the deformers that are still very new in ZBrush, giving us access to 27 in total. The one to take note of now is the Project Primitive which in essence is a new way to add shapes to existing shapes and keep them live until you want to make the change permanent. It’s Live Boolean addition and more. These primitives can be used to build up entirely new shapes, or be used to cut away specific areas and make complex geometry in just a few clicks. It’s another unique geometry creation tool, just as ZSpheres, DynaMesh and ShadowBox were. The deformers get new coloured ‘cone’ handles that seem complex to understand at first glance but soon become second nature. One of the great things with Pixologic is that when they release new features like this, you know they have already recorded videos ready to release to the ZClassroom on their website, and learning the new stuff is simply a matter of following along from there. Another deformer worth a look is Remesh By DynaMesh. This allows the DynaMesh function to be called without needing to go and fi nd it in the menu. And if there’s a Remesh By DynaMesh, why not look at Remesh By ZRemesher and Remesh By Decimation. All the deformers serve to make things faster once you’ve understood the basic usage. Sculptris Pro is a new way to add local detail to your sculpts by dynamically giving you more tessellated polygons The PolyGroupIt plugin brings a new way to create Polygroups (coloured polygon selections on a mesh). It takes a look at the surface of your model in its current state, and with the click of a button makes a decision on how and where to group it, and it was pretty accurate in the tests we did. Polygrouping is such an essential part of the workflow in ZBrush and it’s nice to see it get an upgrade after so long. The other additions include new Snake Hook brushes for pulling shapes out of your meshes, including Snake Hook 2, Snake Sphere and Snake Cactus. Individual brushes can now remember the draw size they last used if needed, useful if you are constantly changing between a few brushes that need very different settings. As always there is a full list of the new features on the website. Overall, this new ZBrush update brings with it a great set of additions and some surprising changes that give lots of new functionality to an already huge toolset. This article originally appeared in 3D World magazine. Subscribe here. Buy now for $895 (new)/ free (upgrade) Read more: Sculpt realistic anatomy in ZBrush View the full article

Web design can be a lucrative career for the tech-savvy, artistically inclined individual. But first, you'll have to learn the tricks of the trade. Get started with this comprehensive course bundle, Pay What You Want: Learn to Web Design. The bundle is worth $1238, but you can get it right now for whatever price you name. You'll learn how to create professional looking photos with Photoshop, gain hands-on experience by building real projects with Bootstrap, and you'll use HTML and CSS to create a responsive website. You'll also practice designing interfaces with jQuery, and creating your own web and mobile apps. Once you've gained all the knowledge and gotten all the experience this bundle offers, you'll be well on your way to launching a lucrative career in web design. For whatever price you want to pay, you can get Pay What You Want: Learn to Web Design, today. Related articles: The web designer starter toolkit Beware the cutting edge of web design The future of web design is code-free View the full article

Whether you know them by another name (trainers, kicks, runners, daps, or in my case, 'my babies'), there's no denying that sneakers' appeal goes way beyond functional footwear. The logo design, colourway, style and even packaging design all play a part, but there is still an indefinable quality that marks out your favourites. Historically, sneakers have been a mark of our tribe, a product of our time, an outward reflection of context and culture. Countless sneakers have become indisputable design icons, up there with the design classics of any age. Whether you're an indie gal married to your lo-fi canvas Chuckie Ts; a lanky hoop-scoring 'boss' who wouldn't be seen dead in anything but hi-tech fat Air Jordans; or a modern-day casual for whom vintage Adidas Trimm Trabs are everything, you've got to admit that there are some sneaker designs that are so classic, so iconic, so damn influential that they deserve a place on any classic design list, whatever your tastes. So with all that said, agonisingly wrestled down from a long, long list of favourites, here's my take on the 20 best sneaker designs ever – and note, these are not in order! 01. Nike Air Max 1 Nike Air Max 1 The Air Max 1 wasn't the first shoe to use Nike's technologically advanced air cushioning system. That honour falls to trailblazers like the Tailwind, the almighty Air Force 1 and 1982's Air Ace. However, 1987's Air Max 1 was the first to bare its innards to all with its 'visible air' window. Despite the technology, they still manage to look ultra-cool even to this day. 02. Converse All Star Converse All Star A legendary shoe and an undeniable design classic, whatever your personal taste. Virtually unchanged since first release in 1916, Converse All Stars (or 'Chuck Ts', so named after early endorsement by basketball star Charles Taylor) are ubiquitous amongst students, skaters, indie kids, punks and primary school children. Now there's a demographic to die for! 03. Adidas Trimm Trab Adidas Trimm Trab The Trimm Trab has been a hugely popular design classic since its release in Adidas' native Germany in the mid-70s. Adopted with enthusiasm by hordes of 80s UK football 'casuals' as regulation de rigeur Saturday afternoon terrace footwear, the solid chunked-up rubber polyurethane sole remains instantly recognisable. Sadly, finding a mint vintage pair is practically impossible, as the soles on the original models famously deteriorated over time, even when unworn. 04. Nike Air Jordan 1 Nike Air Jordan 1 It's difficult to overstate the impact that Nike's first Air Jordan release had on sneaker design and fashion in general, back in 1985. In its original (now-iconic) red/black colourway, the shoe was originally banned by the NBA in the US for breaking its colour rules. History shows that banning rarely harms the banned, and these beefy Michael Jordan-endorsed hi-top bad-boys soon became enormous sellers, leading to an seemingly never-ending line of follow-ups. Interestingly, the Air Jordan 1 is the only shoe in the Jordan series to feature Nike's trademark Swoosh logo. 05. Onitsuka Tiger Corsair Onitsuka Tiger Corsair Following its inception in the late 1940s, Japan's Onitsuka Tiger quickly made huge strides in the development of sneaker technology and design. Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman (later to form Nike) helped Onitsuka design the Corsair, which would be re-designed further to become the Cortez, an early Nike classic. The Corsair's striking design features the iconic curvaceous tiger 'stripes' weaving along the sides. These were actually first introduced with the also-classic Tiger 'Mexico', the stripes as much a metaphor for speed, movement and power, as a means of providing additional foot support for the wearer. 06. Puma State Puma State/Suede Puma States (or Suedes as they're known in the US) are a timeless piece of classic design with a long and illustrious history. Tommy Smith made his famous Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics sporting a pair, and they've been much-loved by basketball players (Knicks legend Clyde Frazier was a famous endorsee), hip-hop stars, skate crews and street casuals ever since. 07. Adidas Superstar Adidas Superstar The old-school classic 'Superstar' is an off-the-scale design sneaker icon. Not just because the instantly recognisable low-top shell-toe design is simply 'cool-as', but because of its massive impact across so many musical trends, cultures and tribes. Enjoying instant popularity on courts when released in 1969 as a basketball shoe, its subsequent adoption by hip-hop crews in early '80s New York (helped along just a smidge by Run DMC's My Adidas homage) led to a massive explosion in popularity for the Superstar. 08. Adidas Stan Smith Adidas Stan Smith Released in 1965 and endorsed by US tennis legend Stan Smith, these eponymous adidas sneakers are quite simply legendary. So much so that they were treated to a re-release in 2014. The epitome of classic, understated design, these beautifully simple all-leather works of art are a striking triumph in 'less is more', particularly notable for the three rows of perforations where the usual adidas three stripes would appear. 09. Etnies Fader Etnies Fader Not a shoe typically found in top 'all time' lists, and certainly not deemed 'cool' by those in the know, but nevertheless... this is my list, right? So, I have a confession: I'm a sucker for Etnies Faders. A classic, appealing aesthetic, understated contrasting colourways and solid sturdy construction add up to a modern design classic that I absolutely love to wear. And boo ya to the purists! 10. Adidas Samba Adidas Samba The biggest selling Adidas shoe of all time, this old-school (1950) classic set the blueprint for all sneakers to follow. A favourite of five-a-side footballers and '80s terrace casuals alike and still undiminished by familiarity, this simple design classic deserves a place in anyone's top 20 sneaker design list. Anyone who claims to have never owned a pair of Sambas is, quite frankly, telling a pack of porkies. Next page: the next 10 best sneakers of all time... 11. Nike Air Force 1 Nike Air Force 1 Released in 1982, the iconic and collectible Air Force 1 was the first basketball shoe to feature Nike's air cushioning system. It enjoyed huge popularity in basketball quarters at least three years before mass-adoption as a fashion item, likely because of the trailblazing (and clever marketing) of the later Air Jordan and Air Max ranges. 12. Nike Air Jordan 11 Nike Air Jordan 11 While many of the Air Jordan range are, in my opinion, utterly hideous pieces of footwear (the 12s a case in point), it's easy to see why the Air Jordan 11 was the fastest-selling shoe of all time and continues to be held in high regard by sneaker enthusiasts. Timeless yet forward-thinking styling and some rather lovely colourways see the 11s equally at home as bad-ass streetwear or when shooting hoops with friends. 13. Adidas TRX Comp Adidas TRX Comp The TRX range was a range of running shoes released by adidas in the mid-70s, soon to be adopted by clued-up fashionistas. The top-of-the-range Comp is my particular favourite: a mesh and suede upper combined with the unusual sole make these a striking piece of sneaker design. Bob Marley was often seen sporting a pair of TRXs and frankly, if they're good enough for the Tuff Gong, they're definitely good enough for me. 14. Nike Air Max 95 Nike Air Max 95 Nike had already had success with Air Max versions 1-3 (the third more commonly known as Air Max 1990), but no one expected the brash design statement that was the Air Max 95. Lovers of old-school classic simplicity thought they were an aberration. It's true to say the high-tech features, weird contours and vaguely extra-terrestrial detailing were a major leap for sneaker design that, for better or worse, we haven't looked back from since. 15. Adidas Gazelle Adidas Gazelle In the same way that the Samba became a staple of shoe wardrobes the world over, so the same can be said of the Gazelle, Adidas' classic training shoe released in 1968. Their simple timeless styling has been available in pretty much every possible colourway over the years. The Gazelle remains a much-loved design classic. 16. Nike Air Jordan III Nike Air Jordan III The 1988-released Air Jordan III holds a special place in the hearts of most Jordan enthusiasts. This iconic design classic was the first to feature the now legendary Jumpman logo and the first to feature Nike's patented air sole window units. Popular to this day, re-issues of this classic sneaker design are still sported by the likes of Jay-Z and hip-hop hopefuls everywhere. 17. Adidas Kegler Super Adidas Kegler Super Cool-as-you-like, the visually striking Keglers saw adidas pushing design boundaries, in terms of aesthetics, functionality and comfort. The beefed-up sole sported three adjustable pegs at each side, allowing the wearer to alter the feel of the sneakers. Despite shipping with a set of distinctly unsexy orthopaedic-style plastic adjustment rods, the adidas Kegler was adopted by design-conscious 80s casuals as a symbol of downright cool. 18. Nike Bruin Nike Bruin The Nike Bruin is, quite simply, a legendary sneaker. Released in 1972 as a low-top basketball shoe, its simple clean lines, solid suede upper and prominent leather Swoosh helped launch the Nike brand into the sneaker-buying public's consciousness. 19. Nike Cortez Nike Cortez The Nike Cortez is another legendary shoe with historical significance. First released in 1972, Nike's first ever sneaker was actually a re-working of the Onitsuka Tiger Cortez, which in turn had been designed by Nike's co-founders. The Cortez has never been out of production since its first classic release, in white leather, with a red swoosh and distinctive blue line on the side sole. Since released in pretty much every imaginable colourway and material, the Cortez will always be a sleek, highly desirable design classic. 20. Vans Era Checkerboard Vans Era Checkerboard Before skater-shoe technology's head-on collision with NASA, self-respecting '70s skateboarders were seen in one sneaker and one sneaker only: Vans. These unassuming California deck shoes might not have attained their design classic status had Vans not involved skaters in the design of what became the 95, popularly known as the Vans Era. This ubiquitous sneaker design (particularly the black-and-white checkerboard colourway) was so successful that it has since sailed far beyond its skater origins, via new wave punk bands and indie kids, into the wider global consciousness. So that's my list. I know, I know... the list of designs I've missed is longer than the list itself. But which of mine would you ditch, and which classic sneaker designs would you replace them with? Let me know in the comments! Related articles: 10 most hated logos (and what they teach us) 70 best free fonts for designers 14 imaginative web comics to inspire you View the full article

Hackers are embedding malicious code within compromised, uploaded images on trusted Google sites – weaponizing the website and staying under the radar. View the full article

Two vulnerabilities were discovered on Dongguan Diqee-branded vacuum cleaners, Thursday. View the full article

In this InfoSec Insider cyber insurance expert Nick Sanna discusses how to balance threat exposures and protecting assets with insurance against hacking, breaches and vulnerabilities. View the full article

Do you feel like your work-life balance is too heavily weighted toward the former? Are you always struggling to meet deadlines? Do you feel like you're constantly running to keep still? We all have 'time sinks' in our days that we're barely conscious of. But if you really focus on what they are, and how to remove them, you can suddenly free up serious numbers of extra hours and become more creative and productive as a result. Who knows, you might even have time to complete that tattoo art you've been thinking about creating, or have time to make your own font. Want more time off, longer holidays and shorter days? Then read on, and see how many of these common time sinks apply to you. 01. Emails Overwhelmed by emails? Then you need to take action. When compared to the old days, when office workers spent hours every morning opening and replying to physical letters, email is one of the most time-saving inventions of modern times. And yet, the sheer volume of emails we receive can often feel overwhelming. If you feel like you’re drowning in emails, then you either don’t have a robust enough system for dealing with them, or no system at all. Doing something about that can make a huge difference to how much time you spend on them. There’s no catch-all solution that works for everyone; you’ll have to find that out by trial and error. But the more you work on improving your system, the better things will get. The problem is, we often tell ourselves we 'don’t have time' to do so, which is the most unproductive false economy you could ever imagine. So set aside an hour one day to think about how you could improve the way you organise your emails. Then put a new system in place, and review it on a regular basis. If you don’t know where to start, here are a few ideas you might try… Apportion a specific time period each day to respond to emails, and don’t even look at your inbox at other times. Save yourself typing repetitive responses to non-important message by using automating replies, such as Gmail’s Canned Responses (Settings > Labs > Canned Responses). Create rules to filter certain messages from your inbox to a folder automatically. For example, in my inbox any email that is addressed to my social media handles (eg, ‘Dear @journotom’ or ‘Dear @tom_may’), rather than my actual name, is automatically junked. Aim for inbox zero every day: the psychological boost can be enormous and the practice can help you to start write shorter, to-the-point emails as a habit. Take the time to unsubscribe from time-wasting services that keep sending you pointless notifications. Create a policy of not replying to certain kinds of email. For example, if my email address is marked ‘bcc’ (‘Blind Carbon Copy’ from the old analogue days) and I am not directly mentioned in the body, I feel that implies it is for my information only and I'm not obligated to reply to it. For more tips, read our indispensable guide to email management for creatives. 02. Instant Messaging Are you wasting time on endless IM chats? Then why not just phone instead? The word ‘Instant’ in Instant Messaging can be misleading. Yes, the speed at which your messages are sent may be fast. But that does not necessarily make it the least time-consuming way to have a conversation. Even if you’re super-fast at typing, an IM conversation about a work matter can end up taking an age. But it has become such a habit to most of us that we don’t even consider that picking up the phone, or having a chat of Skype, might be a lot faster. Hearing someone’s voice can remove ambiguity, conveying emotion and boost understanding in a way that can be difficult to do by text message, however cool your emoticons are. And that can make for quicker decisions and less time spent on meandering, endless discussions. Yes, you don’t have an easy record of the conversation to refer back to later, but ask yourself if that’s really vital. Even if it is, a quick email summary after your chat can solve that problem, and you’ll probably still have spent less time overall. 03. Meetings Do you dread meetings? Then do something about it. If, as we established in the last paragraph, face-to-face conversation can be a quicker way to resolve issues than instant messaging, then why do meetings suck so badly? We’ve all experienced boring, dull, endless meetings that fail to settle anything and end up being a spectacular waste of everybody’s time. To prevent this, it’s important to settle on some ground rules first, and make sure everyone agrees to them before you start. These might include the following. A clear agenda and agreed goals (the fewer the better): if you don’t know what you want the meeting to achieve, you’ll never achieve it. No deviations from core topics: if you want to chat about other things you can do it in the pub later. A strict time-limit (the shorter the better) and absolutely no late arrivals. A limit on attendees (the fewer the better). More controversially, you might also want to speed things up by leaving phones and laptops at the door (notes can be taken on notepaper, but devices offer too many distractions). You could also consider taking away the chairs: people are more likely to drone on and on if they’re comfortable, less so if they’re standing up. For more detailed advice, read our article on how to run effective meetings. 04. Gaps between meetings We often forget how much time we waste between meetings While meetings are obvious time sucks, what we often fail to account for is the amount of time we waste between them. If, for example, you’ve got another one starting in 15 minutes, it's kind of pointless to spend five minutes going back to your desk, five minutes working and then leave again. The obvious solution is to leave shorter gaps between meetings, which in turn puts extra stress on each meeting starting and finishing on time. If you can't though, then consider planning ahead and finding a 15 minute task you can realistically do in the gap, such as answering a difficult email. By scheduling it for a particular time slot, you're far more likely to do it, rather than just wasting the time on Instagram or Twitter. Talking of which... 05. Social media Switch off social media and see your productivity rocket How much time do you spend during your working day on social media? If you want an app to tell you, we’d recommend AntiSocial for Android and Pryxsee for iOS. But most of us don’t need to be told that we waste hours on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram when we should be working. And that this time probably represents at least one day a month we could be taking off from work entirely. So ask yourself: what’s wrong with the idea of turning off your phone, or at least its internet connection, completely during working hours? Social media is designed to make us think that we have to be always ‘on’, and contactable, especially as freelancers, but is that really true? Don’t all serious work enquiries still arrive by email? Even if that’s not the case, do they really need to be replied to instantly (it’s not always great to seem too keen)? We’d suggest that for most people other than freelance creatives who are just starting out, the answer’s no. So just switch it off, and start surfing on the thrilling tide of actually getting things done. For more tips, read our post how to make social media work for you. 06. Commuting Two hours-plus of commuting each day is a lot of time to waste One of the best things about freelancing for home, or remote working in a job, is that you claw back at least couple of hours a day that you would have spent commuting. But that’s not possible for everyone. So if you have to travel to work, how do you stop that being totally wasted time? There are two ways to go. Firstly, if you travel by train or bus, ask yourself if it’s possible to actually work during your commute. Sometimes it’s not worth the hassle: you don’t have a seat, the Wi-Fi or mobile internet signal is patchy or non-existent, and the noise makes it difficult to concentrate. But if you plan ahead it might be a different story. For example, you might be able to set your laptop up with creative work you can do offline. Noise-cancelling headphones plus the right soundtrack could help minimise distractions. Travelling earlier or later might boost your chances of getting a seat. Alternatively, you could give the idea of working on your commute up as a lost cause, and instead use the time in different ways. Catch up on podcasts, audio dramas, TV shows and films. Read a good book or your favourite magazine (we have some excellent creative titles to consider here). That might not be productive in a work sense, but time spent doing things you enjoy shouldn't be seen as 'wasted time', it’s time spent recharging your batteries and making you feel more creative once you do sit down to work. 07. Watching TV Of course you should watch The Santa Clarita Diet; it's ace. But you don't have to watch seasons 1 and 2 in one go. Iconic fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has famously never had a television set; her attitude is that you either create great work or be distracted by entertainment. But while most creatives see this as less of a binary decision, it’s certainly true that most of us waste too much time watching TV. And what’s worse, we don’t always even enjoy it that much. Granted, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon have cut down on the amount of time we waste watching commercials, and help us focus more on the kind of shows we actually like, rather than staring blankly at whatever pops up on broadcast TV at the end of the evening. But watching streaming box-set series can be damagingly addictive, as you continually try to fight the lure of ‘just one more episode’. So as well as putting time limits on your children’s viewing, shouldn’t you consider setting a good example and sticking to strict limits of your own too? Also, try spacing out episodes of a show rather than binge-watching. It can actually make your viewing experience more enjoyable, as you ponder what might happen next in the show throughout the week, rather than just letting the whole story wash over you in one sitting. What’s more, the forthcoming episode will feel like more like a treat, something to look forward to, just like watching your favourite show did as a kid. It’s also vital to resist the urge to be a completist. Just because you’ve started watching a show, that doesn’t mean you have to finish it. If you’re not hooked by episode three, why not just quit it? It’ll still be there to catch up on next time you have a sick day and just want something on in the background while you snot your way through a box of tissues. Finally, that feature on streaming services that automatically plays the next episode; difficult to resist, isn’t it? So disable it. Simple. 08. Tasks you should have delegated Are you being selfish by not delegating to a colleague? A lot of time we think we’re being productive, but actually we’re not. That’s because we’re doing work that other people could be doing. Often, those people are desperate to be given extra tasks, as a way of furthering their career development or, if they’re freelancers, of paying their rent. But we deny them, telling ourselves that only we can be trusted with this important task. Get over yourself. Yes, delegation can be difficult: It’s about picking the right people for the right job, striking the right balance between guidance and interference, giving good instructions and being patient with people. But the more you learn to let go, the easier it becomes and the better you’ll get at it. Plus it's a win-win, as being able to delegate well is going to supercharge your career prospects in the long term. For more advice, read our post 10 ways to master the tricky art of delegation. 09. Interruptions People trying to get our attention can drastically disrupt our workflow Sometimes it can feel like it’s impossible to get any work done in the office at all. You’re really trying to focus on solving a difficult problem but there are so many distractions, from one colleague wanting to chat about the football to another asking you to sponsor their 10K run. The moment you start to get into a decent workflow, another interruption comes along and sets you back to square one. At times like these, when you really need to concentrate, there’s nothing wrong with making that fact clear to others. Putting on your headphones is a time-honoured way to advertise your ‘Do Not Disturb’ status. If that doesn’t work then why not just ask people politely not to interrupt you for the next hour, or tell them you’re relocating to an empty room so you can concentrate better? At other times, when you’re working on more routine work, you’ll probably be glad of background noise and the odd bit of random chat. So don’t alienate your colleagues, just use common sense and good communication to let them know when that’s welcome and when it isn’t, and respond in kind when they send the same messages to you. 10. Procrastination Our tendency to procrastinate lies at the root of all time sinks Ultimately, the problem of time sinks often boils down to one thing: procrastination. You know you really should be getting on with one particular task but you basically don’t want to. So you subconsciously seek high and low for alternative tasks, make endless cups of tea, or simply sit there staring at a piece of paper as if the answer will miraculously jump out of it. The important thing about procrastination is to (a) know when you’re doing it and (b) know why you’re doing it. The latter may be anything from fear of failure to the fact you need to eat or take a break. But only when you accept the problem can you deal with the solution. For further advice, check out our 5 fail-safe ways to beat procrastination. Read more: 9 tips for improving your time management How to manage a huge client 12 essential tools for graphic designers View the full article

Cisco also pushed out seven high-severity fixes for its SD-WAN solution for business users, and a patch for a DoS flaw in the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Fabric Switches. View the full article

Self-doubt can strike anyone in any industry, but creatives in particular are closely associated with images of internal conflict. Is there truth behind the stereotype of the tortured artist finally emerging from their studio clutching a work of brilliance, and if so, where does it come from? Most importantly of all, how can artists deal with self-doubt? Like most stereotypes, the idea of the troubled artist is neither nuanced nor useful. However, it does tap into a struggle that artists at every stage of their career appear to have to deal with: talent, refined art techniques won’t help you outrun confidence issues, and nor will the best pencils or drawing apps. “Once I reached a point where I was making a living with my artwork and went full time, the doubts began to set in,” says artist and illustrator Kelly McKernan, whose “fake it ‘til you make it” attitude wore off when she started to rub shoulders with artists at the top of their game. “The prevailing feeling went from inspiration to shame. I truly didn’t feel like I belonged.” To keep her mind active, McKernan listens to educational podcasts and radio plays Comic artist and illustrator Adam Hughes has worked for the biggest publishers in the business, and even he still wrestles with feelings of doubt. “It’s never changed, but I just do the work,” he reveals. “Not as quickly as if I was burning with confidence, but I get it done. That’s the only real issue: do your doubts actually stop you in your artistic tracks?” For McKernan, this proactive approach forced her to confront insecurities about the work she was creating. “I took a hard look at my work, recognised that much of it felt shallow to me, and began taking steps to create more personally fulfilling work that addresses and explores my experiences,” she says. Imposter syndrome In a cruel twist of logic, overworking is a sign that an artist could be experiencing impostor syndrome. This is the condition where a person feels like they could be exposed as a fraud at any moment. “The nature of creative work makes everyone more vulnerable to feeling inadequate and even more so if you are not classically trained,” explains author and impostor syndrome expert Dr Valerie Young. For Hughes, the biggest sign that negative thoughts have got too much is when artists stop drawing altogether “For one, your work is highly public. Not only are you defined by it, but by artistic and literary standards that are completely subjective. It’s a challenge to maintain a consistent level of confidence when you know you’re only as good as your last painting. Meanwhile, confidence can cause you to question yourself even more because the reactions of those around you can be so skewed.” To conquer these nagging feelings of fraudulence, Young advises that you normalise them and reframe the idea of failure. “If you want to stop feeling like an impostor, you have to stop thinking like an impostor.” A positive attitude is what helps entertainment industry design veteran Feng Zhu cope with the pressures of dealing with a client. “I remind myself that clients are coming to me because they liked my previous work. So, I just need to do what I do, instead of trying to become, match or out-do someone else. “Our career is not a popularity contest. Our job is to get ideas out on paper,” says Zhu “Design what you love best. You don’t need to follow trends or do concept art for the sake of popularity. Don’t worry about what others will think. If you’re doing something you love, self-doubt and negative energy quickly fades away.” For illustrator Miles Johnston, embracing failure is an inevitable part of trying to do anything worthwhile. “Failure is a necessary part of the process of growing as an artist,” he argues. “It’s also incredibly difficult to have a truly objective view of your own work. I think a lot of people slip into the false idea that when they see something good in their work, this is wishful thinking, and when they see the bad, now they’re truly being objective. Instead, keep your focus and passion on the work at hand.” Social anxiety Concentrating on your own work and accomplishments is easier said than done, especially when you add social media into the mix. With plenty of artists using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share their art, it’s all too easy to get bogged down if your own work doesn’t perform. This can lead to artists focusing on failure in the wrong way. Relaxing and exercising are how Johnston unwinds. “It can be fun to interact with artists online, but I don’t think it can replace the basics of a good life” Hughes remains forthright with his advice. “If sharing your work catastrophises anything, maybe you’re in the wrong line of work. You can be fragile as long as you keep drawing. If feedback of any kind wrecks you, then maybe reconsider sharing your talent publicly. Many artists create just for themselves.” Johnston takes the opposite approach, and encourages artists to put their work out there all the time. “I think being afraid to show your artwork ultimately comes down to a kind of ego,” he says. “If people see you improve over time, then your old work won’t be embarrassing or hold you back. Instead, it’ll make people more inspired and interested in your journey.” Thinking positive When handled well, apparently negative thoughts and observations can urge artists on to higher ground. “Imperfections (do not call them failures!) inform your future work,” says McKernan. “Successes are the results of every piece that you’ve completed before, and that’s something to be proud of because it represents personal growth.” Artist and teacher Vanessa Lemen is of the same mind, as she gets to the root of how a fear of failure can be useful. “The aspect of self-doubt that stems from being challenged and comes from the understanding that there are an infinite number of things that we don’t know – that the possibilities are endless, and that there is so much out there that we have yet to learn – can definitely play a positive role in the betterment of ourselves and our art.” Lemen puts self-doubt down to artists being inside their own heads too much Meanwhile, Hughes observes “any artist who loves their own work too much isn’t inclined to improve. I feel a little self-loathing goes a long way towards improving one’s self. Dissatisfaction is a great motivator.” Johnston agrees that dissatisfaction can push people to better work, but the secret is to develop positive habits so self-esteem will come naturally. “It’s a meaningful and fulfilling life to get to do this every day,” he says. “I love my job and don’t regret a minute spent drawing.” This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 160; subscribe here. Related articles: 10 inspirational quotes to make you more productive How to make social media work for you 5 mindfulness apps to save you from creative burnout View the full article

Michael Johnson, founder of Johnson Banks, is known for his strong opinions. So it's no wonder that he knows exactly what he's looking for in a graphic design portfolio. We sat down with him to uncover the nitty gritty of what he's looking for in a design portfolio, what impresses him, what makes him happy and what is likely to arouse his ire and dismay. Read on for his five dos and don'ts when it comes to portfolios... 01. Do avoid distractions How you should lay out your work? “For me, anything that gets in the way of the actual work is a problem,” says Johnson. “So really art-directed headers, titles, graphic edges and suchlike are a huge turn-off. The work should stand on its own and not need a frilly border. Online, if the web navigation is getting in my way or slowing the process down, that’s also very distracting.” In short, it’s all about focusing attention on the work alone. “For me, it’s the same every time. Three great projects – okay. Five great projects – interesting. Eight great projects? Hired.” 02. Don't neglect small details Design is about detail, so neglect even the tiniest thing and you’ll end up on the rejected pile. Johnson shares some of the biggest misdemeanours he’s witnessed: “Sending 56-page pdfs when 15 was the stated limit. Sending 25MB files. Sending links to Dropbox folders or WeTransfer links.” Then there are the oh-so-irritating spelling mistakes, including: “Spelling my name wrong: Michael is not spelt MICHEAL, and nor is my name Michael Banks.” Johnson’s pet hates when it comes to portfolios also include: “Sending emails to Johnson Banks that still say ‘Dear Wolff Olins’. Sending blanket ‘Dear Info’ emails to 50 design groups. And not looking at our website before sending samples. For example, Johnson Banks don’t do packaging. Yet, designers still send us packaging projects. Why?” Michael Johnson is the founder of Johnson Banks 03. Do fill it with ideas If you’re applying for a creative position, you need to demonstrate more than just technical ability. “So your portfolio needs to be full of great ideas, demonstrating a lively and engaging mind, an interest in the world, and design’s role within it,” stresses Johnson. “The best ones are just crammed with ideas; and then at second interview, they reveal personal work or more layers which make me like the work even more.” 04. Don't oversell yourself Your portfolio should sell your skills and vision as a designer, but don’t push things too far, cautions Johnson. “Being overly chippy and telling me how great you are, just in the email, is a pet peeve. Another one is putting work in your folder that you basically only did the photocopying for... then forgetting to tell me that.” 05. Do be personable When it comes to talking an employer through your portfolio in an interview, not everyone gets it right. “The vast majority of people forget they are presenting to someone else, and present to themselves, not me,” says Johnson. “Spooky, really. Oh, and you need to be able to justify design decisions. Saying ‘I’ve always liked this typeface’ is not a reason.” This article was originally published in Computer Arts, the world's leading magazine for graphic designers. Buy issue 278 here or subscribe here. Read more: Transform your portfolio from good to great How to curate a creative portfolio 8 portfolio mistakes that drive clients mad View the full article

Do you create a lot of different types of websites? Take them all up a notch with a lifetime membership to Visualmodo WordPress Themes, which just got a price drop – it now costs just $34. This tool offers a wide variety of themes that are perfect for building any website, whether you're building one for someone else or launching your own. Themes can be customised, and fast installation allows them to go live in no time at all. Visualmodo also features cross-browser compatibility, so you can rest assured that your site will look great across all browsers. And thanks to lifetime membership, you'll have access to all future themes that may hit the library. Get one subscription to last your whole life for only $34. Related articles: 23 great examples of WordPress websites 6 top tips for CRO success in WordPress 40 brilliant WordPress tutorials View the full article

We've already seen that Twitter is an excellent place to pick up a nifty productivity tip, especially for apps like Photoshop CC. And while we've just about got over the secret Photoshop eyedropper trick that was blowing people's minds earlier in the week, another tip has come along that's left designers on social media equally stunned. Calligrapher Ian Barnard, who we discovered this week is a dab hand with a cheap pen, discovered how effortless it is to copy and paste from an iPad straight to a Mac and shared his find on Twitter. His followers quickly registered their shock and delight, then Barnard tweeted a short video clip explaining how it's done. Minds were blown. Say goodbye to emailing files to yourself and downloading them with this simple swipe-and-tap alternative. Just make sure both devices are on the same network before you give this a go. Related articles: 19 best painting and drawing apps for iPad The 12 best iPad apps for designers 9 tips for improving your time management View the full article

Have you started using the Flexible Box Layout module in your projects yet? Although the module has been around for some time, there have been two major barriers stopping front end developers from using it as a web design tool. First, until recently the spec was in flux and there wasn't great support for it. Today, all modern browsers support Flexbox. The second barrier is that it is pretty tough to grasp the concept of Flexbox. While it is super-powerful, there are a lot of moving parts and it can be difficult to learn. But the ability to arrange page elements, and have them behave in a predictable way, across multiple screen sizes, is well worth the effort. Want to get started with flexbox? Read on! In this article, I will get you up and running with the fundamental concepts behind flexbox. Understanding these core concepts will open up a whole world of extremely flexible, easy to create layouts (especially for responsive web design). Next-generation design Flexbox is a next-generation tool to help you create layouts with CSS; whether you want to lay out a section of your website or display a grid of media elements. It enables you to easily align, centre, justify, scale and reorder elements on your page, without having to resort to nasty CSS hacks or fragile JavaScript dependencies. Flexbox can replace floats, positioning tricks, inline-block layouts and even – shudder – table display layouts. If you have ever pulled your hair out wondering why some seemingly simple layouts were difficult or even impossible in CSS, you are going to love Flexbox. Flex elements The magic of Flexbox is in the relationship between the parent 'flex container' and the children 'flex items'. In order to take full control of Flexbox, you must put aside any previous ideas of floats, positioning and clearing. This is a totally new way of laying out your page. Setting display:flex; on a parent element turns it into a flex container, and all of its immediate children will be turned into flex items. Once you have your markup set up, you can use one of the many available flex properties to create a layout. Note: any of the HTML elements can be a flex container or flex item. Any :before and :after pseudo-elements you have on your flex container will be treated as children, and therefore first-class flex items. Rows and columns The default flex-direction set to row There are two axes in Flexbox that control how the flex items on the page are laid out: the main axis and the cross axis. By default, Flexbox is set up so the main axis goes from left-to-right (or the opposite, for languages that read right-to-left) and the cross axis flows top-to-bottom (shown above). Before you go memorising that, note that this can – and will – all change with the flex-direction property. The main axis flipped with flex-direction:row-reverse; By default, Flexbox is set up with flex-direction: row; which means the items flow on the main axis from left-to-right, in a row. We can switch the main axis so it flows from right-to-left by using flex-direction:row-reverse (as shown above). The main axis switched from horizontal to vertical with flex-direction:column; To switch both the main axis and the cross axis, we change the layout to flex-direction:column;. This will alter the main axis and flex item flow from left-to-right to top-to-bottom, in a column (above). We can also start from the bottom and move up by flipping the main axis with flex-direction:column-reverse. Center items One of the best things about Flexbox is that it allows you to align your content in any way you please – even vertical centring is an absolute breeze! There is often confusion surrounding Flexbox alignment, because there are three different properties that we use to modify the alignment of our flex items. One reason for this is that these properties align the items along the main and the cross axis. So instead of asking, 'how do I centre something vertically or horizontally?' you must first establish which direction your axes are pointed, and then figure out which CSS property to use to properly align and centre your flex items on them. In the next few examples, I'll be attempting to perfectly centre my items. However, you should know that each of these properties has a number of alignment options. For a full list, I recommend keeping this CSS-Tricks flexbox reference handy. The cross axis align-items:center; will centre our items along the cross axis, which in our case is top-to-bottom By default, flex items stretch across the entire flex container along the cross axis. If we want to centre items along the cross axis, we can use the align-items property on our flex container and set it to center (shown above). In addition to stretch and center, we can also use flex-start and flex-end to anchor the items at the top and bottom respectively. Finally, we have baseline, which will align the items along the bottom (or baseline) of your text. This is extremely helpful when you are trying to align items with varying font sizes. Justify along the main axis Justify-content:center; will centre our items along the main axis Now we have the centring working along the cross axis – top to bottom in our case – we need to get centring working across the main axis. For this, we use justify-content:center (shown above). Just like with align-items, we can also use flex-start or flex-end, as well as space-between and space-around, which will evenly divvy up the remaining space between the elements. This is super-useful when working with grid layouts that don't add up to 100 per cent of the margin and widths. Just remember, if we switch from the default flex-direction:row; to flex-direction:column;, the main axis can change from left-to-right to top-to-bottom. When we switch to column, align-items becomes the horizontal alignment while justify-content becomes the vertical alignment. Align multiple lines While align-items and justify-content work great when you have a single row or column of content, things get a little trickier when you're dealing with multiple lines of content as a result of using flex-wrap:wrap; on the flex container. align-content works just like justify-content, but kicks in when we have multiple lines of content. By applying align-content:center; we can ensure that the lines will anchor in the middle of the cross axis and centre their elements from there. Just like with justify-content, we can also use flex-start, flex-end, space-between and space-around. However, this time they refer to the space in-between the rows or columns of content, and not the flex items themselves. Now, with just four lines of CSS, we have a bulletproof way of vertically and horizontally centring all direct children of a flex container. Fill the space So far, everything we have learned about alignment has to do with the flex container and how it aligns its children. With align-self it is possible to override the align-items property set on the flex container by individually setting align-self to flex-start, flex-end, center, baseline or stretch. Another often misunderstood part of flexbox is how to work with grow, shrink and basis values. It's helpful to once again throw away any ideas of pixel-perfect grids and embrace that flexbox is, well, flexible. Each flex item can be assigned a flex-grow, flex-shrink and a flex-basis value. With these values we can indicate our ideal sizes, and then specify how the items should act in situations where there is extra, or not enough, space. From there, the items will just figure it out for themselves. I like to think of these properties as: flex-grow: How do I act when there is extra space available? How will the flex items divvy up the remaining space? flex-shrink: How do I act when there isn't enough room for all the flex items? Rather than overflow the container, who will give up part of themselves to make everything fit? flex-basis: Instead of setting a definite width or a height on your element, ideally what width (as a row) or height (as a column) will it be? Note that while it is possible to specify these properties individually, you will almost always be using the flex shorthand to specify the grow, shrink and basis values all at once. Check the videos at Flexbox.io for a more detailed description of the flex shorthand property. Growing and shrinking The idea is that we can set our ideal width or height with the basis value, and then when there is extra space available for the flex items, the flex-grow property will decide how much extra to take up. Similarly, when there is not enough space available, the shrink property will decide how much each element will give up (or 'shrink'). The flex-grow and flex-shrink properties are unit-less, proportional values. They describe how much – in relation to all the other flex items – the item will grow or shrink. Let's say we have two flex items: video and credits. We will set the video to flex:1 1 700px; and the credits to flex:3 3 300px;. Now the parent of both of these items is the flex container, and when it is 1000px wide things work out perfectly: the video takes up its 700px and the credits take up the other 300px. What happens when the flex container is 1500px wide? We have an extra 500px to work with, so where does that go? That is where flex-grow kicks in. The video is set to 1 while credits is set to 3. That means of all the extra room, credits will take three times (375px) the amount of space the video will get (125px). Similarity, what happens when our flex container is smaller than 1000px? Let's say it's 900px: how do the video and the credits act then? Unlike with floats, we don't just break onto a new line, or scale them down with percentages. Instead, we use the flex-shrink property. Since the credits have a flex-shrink of 3 and the video has a flex-shrink of 1, this means the credits will give up three times as much space as the video. So since we need to shave off 100px from somewhere, the credits will give up 75px, while the video container will only give up 25px. Unknown navigation size Let's look at some common use cases of flexbox. If you have ever worked with a navigation in a CMS like WordPress, you'll know that it can be hard to predict how many elements will be included in your navigation. Evenly distributing the space between all the elements requires JavaScript. For example if you have three elements, each one should be take up 33.33 per cent of the width, while with five elements each one should take up 20 per cent. Let's take a look at this commonly seen code as an example: With flexbox, we can easily create this navigation, and even make it responsive, all with just a few lines of CSS. All we need to do is to set our navigation container (usually an unordered list of items) to display:flex, and then each of the flex items to flex:1 or flex-grow:1;. This will stretch the list items horizontally and fit them perfectly into the available width. The reason this works so nicely is that we set the flex items to grow 1, which means that when there is extra space left over, it will be divvied up evenly between all the items. For more on this, and to learn how to size your navigation elements differently, make sure to watch the responsive navigation tutorial available on Flexbox.io. Equal-height columns align-items:center; will centre our items along the cross axis, which in our case is top-to-bottom Have you ever wished that CSS had a height:as-high-as-the-highest-sibling property? We have all been there – we have three columns of content, all of which are different sizes (above). The content is dynamic and the site is responsive, so setting a fixed height on each one is out of the question, and a JavaScript fix isn't ideal. Earlier we learned that the default of align-items is stretch. This means the flex items will stretch to fit the parent flex container. And how is the height of the flex container defined? Almost always by the height of the tallest content box. Let's take the following markup, for example. If we render this out with floats and percentage widths, we will see the container is sized by the middle element and the other two are only as high as they need to be. With flexbox, boxes stretch to fit the flex container and all become equal height Now, if we simply use display:flex; on the flex container, and set each element to be 33.33 per cent with the flex-basis property, immediately the flex items stretch across the entire cross axis, regardless of how much content is in them (see image above). Flexbox benefits I hope by now you see the value in learning how to use the Flexible Box module. While it won't solve every issue you have with CSS, it's an important tool every designer and developer should know, and have in their arsenal. It has been a while since we have had anything this large come to CSS, and I'd argue it's one of the tougher parts of CSS to learn. Just remember that you pushed though learning floats, so Flexbox is totally something you can master! Must-have resources What the Flexbox?! 'What the Flexbox?!' is a free 20-video training course I've created. In the first half of the course, each video introduces a new aspect of Flexbox. I've kept these nice and short, so you can reference them later when you need to brush up on a particular part. The second half of the course dives into a real-world example, detailing how we can use Flexbox to quickly and easily solve many of the common layout problems we face. A complete guide to Flexbox Once you get the hang of Flexbox, you can put the training materials aside. However, it's helpful to keep a visual reference handy. This fantastic resource from Chris Coyier breaks down each of the 13 different Flexbox properties, showing which apply to the flex container and which apply directly to the flex items. Flexbugs Flexbox is not without fault, and like anything, there are a handful of cross-browser bugs and workarounds you should know about. Flexbugs outlines a range of known Flexbox bugs as well as offering possible fixes and workarounds. Read more: Create an animated split screen loading screen 10 ways to transform your creative thinking Create and animate SVG polygons View the full article

You're reading How to Create a Cryptocurrency Exchange Rates using Coinlayer API?, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Back in 2008, a group of people hidden behind the Satoshi Nakamoto figure, developed Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer distributed currency, based on the concept of blockchain. It’s been a wild ride since then. Everyone is in the hunt for the digital … View the full article

Apps most often blacklisted by enterprises provide messenger, VoIP and navigation services. View the full article

From the finest free ebooks for designers to how to work from home and free WordPress themes for creating your design portfolio , we've got you covered if you're thinking about going freelance. But when it comes to tips for going freelance, nothing beats advice from successful freelancers who have already taken the plunge. Here, six leading designers and illustrators share the biggest mistakes they made when going it alone – and reveal what they learned from them… 01. Not using a contract Brendan Dawes’ project The Shape of Data uses real-time happenings on Twitter "I think the biggest mistake was not bothering with contracts," says designer and artist Brendan Dawes. "I think, probably through naivety, you just want to get stuck into the work, and maybe somewhere in the back of my head I was thinking, 'It would put this new client off if I hit them with a contract,' which is crazy." "Luckily the lack of contracts in those early days didn't lead to anything bad," he continues, "but now I have a contract for every piece of work I do — a nice simple one." "I've even had clients comment on how straightforward and fair it is. Contracts are e-signed via an online signing service; make it easy for the client to sign and you get signatures very quickly." 02. Offering too much Aviary Tessellation by Stine Jones is a pattern design created in vector format "When I started freelancing, I made a mistake in thinking I had to compete with larger agencies by offering a full range of creative services," admits illustrator and graphic designer Stina Jones. "This led to me being overworked with a portfolio that didn't stand out in any particular areas. When I decided to play to my strengths by specialising in what I enjoyed most, people responded more positively and I found it easier to win work." 03. Not achieving work/life balance Freelance work by Jessica de Jesus with fashion e-commerce website, Rue La La "I fell into the same bad habits I had while working full-time – my life revolved around work. It was a big emotional struggle, but I had to stop and remind myself that I took this risk of freelance for a reason," says art director, designer and artist Jessica de Jesus. "Being in control of your own time is an incredible opportunity to realise that life should always come first, no matter how scary that may sound. When I took the time to prioritise experiences, those things became the inspiration and driving force behind the work I wanted to create." 04. Failing to focus on long-term goals NYC, 2013 is one of a series of intricate cityscapes by Dylan Gibson "Getting caught up with deadlines and focusing on the here and now," says illustrator Dylan Gibson. "That determination is great for getting those projects finished, but I get distracted from my long term goals and sideline things like promotions or professional development, and miss opportunities. "It's something I'm still getting the hang of, and a behaviour I can change with time. I'm planning out the next six months ahead with realistic goals to achieve when busy within my longer term strategies to give me more direction on professional development." 05. Saying yes to everything Becca Allen illustrated a sticker for VIDDY – a DIY medium-format 35mm pinhole camera "Recently, while working six days in the studio with no spare time, I said yes to helping the FdA course at a local college," says designer and illustrator Becca Allen. "I was booked in to meet prospective students at the course open day and realised I wouldn't be able to deliver. I was disappointed I had to let the tutors and students down, but this experience has made me more selective with new work." 06. Not going freelance sooner Three Everything posters from award-winning graphic designer, art director and artist Sarah Boris' beautiful visual identity work "It's so important to take a leap of faith, take risks, listen to yourself and your desires, and mainly make sure you're happy every morning you wake up to go to work," says creative director Sarah Boris. "As a creative, I've found a space and way of working where I feel I can fully express myself. So far, this has led to some of the the best exchanges and collaborations I've ever had because I feel free, at ease and tremendously happy." The full version of this article first appeared in Computer Arts, the world's best-selling design magazine. Subscribe here. Related articles: How to curate a creative portfolio The freelance survival guide The art of going freelance View the full article