Rss Bot

Missed out on a cheap laptop on Amazon Prime Day? Can't wait until Black Friday? Don't panic, because Amazon has some great deals lined up for the August Bank Holiday, and we've dug out the best laptop bargains you can get your hands on. Whether you're after something lightweight so you can do a bit of logo design on the go, or a more powerful machine suited to creating 3D art, we've found a saving for you here. So read on to find some unmissable laptop bargains! The best Amazon bank holiday sale laptop deals Get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime See more Amazon Bank Holiday sale deals View the full article

For a great all-round camera, the Canon EOS M3 compact is a fantastic option. And at the moment it's more appealing than ever, at just £349, down 23% from the usual price of £453.74. This Amazon Bank Holiday sale offer is available until 11.59pm on 4 September, so move quickly to make the most of it! If you'd like to take your photography skills a step further than fiddling around with camera phone filters, but don't want to lug around a heavy camera or spend a lot on a DSLR, then the Canon EOS M3 should be right up your street. As a Compact System Camera, it's somewhere between a compact camera and a DSLR – it small and easy to transport, takes incredible photos, and you can buy over 70 extra lenses for it, just like you would with a full DSLR. However, there's no need to worry about lenses straight away, as this camera comes with 18-55m f/3.5-5.6 lens. The Canon EOS M3's 24.2MP DSLR-type sensor means you can quickly take professional-looking photos, as well as shoot HD video, and its Creative Assist mode, which gives you touch-screen control over camera settings, helps you get the best shot everytime. It also tells you how to implement your favourite settings using traditional manual settings, if you'd like to experiment further. Like all Amazon Bank Holiday Sale deals, this is a limited offer so grab it while you can, we don't expect these cheap cameras to be around for long. View the full article

Today marks the start of Amazon's biggest ever August bank holiday sale event; eight days of great savings on everything designers and artists might need. The event will run all the way until 23:59 BST on Wednesday 29 August, although some lightning deals will expire before then. There are some really great deals to be had, but they're sure to sell out super-quick, so grab them while you can. We'll bring you all the best Amazon bank holiday sale deals for designers, artists and creatives right here on this page. And we'll be adding more deals as they come in over the next week so make sure to check back for the latest savings. You can also use the jump links on the right to bag yourself a bargain. Are you an Amazon Prime member? If not, make sure to sign up to a free Amazon Prime 30-day trial and get an exclusive 30-minute early access period to all the best deals. The best laptop and tablet deals The best Amazon bank holiday sale camera deals The best Amazon bank holiday sale Wacom deals The best Amazon bank holiday sale headphone deals The best Amazon bank holiday sale monitor deals View the full article

Attackers can abuse URL requests processed by an email program for Mac to steal files from the victim -- sometimes without user interaction. View the full article

An unpatched buffer overflow flaw allows remote attackers to completely take over the device and enter the home network. View the full article

You're reading 10 Distinctive Features of Japanese-Style Web Design, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Many of Japan’s distinctive features can also be found in websites from that country, including unique vision, a high-tech vibe and a fondness for nature. These details are the root of the philosophy of Japanese website design. We’ve collected 10 … View the full article

Although there are plenty of pre-made free textures around, if you want a specific material to use in your 3D art, it isn't that difficult to make your own. In this article, I'll show you how to create a simple leather material (shown above) using Substance Designer. You can watch a time-lapse of my process below, or read on for a step-by-step guide. When you have to create materials using nodes, like you can do in Substance Designer, Blender and other software, my pro tip is to keep a clean work environment in order to have control over all the elements of the material. So try to avoid overlapping elements and so on. 01. Add nodes For this type of material, select the Physically Based (Metallic/Roughness) Graph Template and delete the Metallic output, since it isn’t necessary here. Now add these nodes from the Substance Designer library: the Cells 3 and BnW Spots 1 noises (these two are the main elements of the material), the Height to Normal World Units filter, four Levels filters, a Blend filter and, last but not least, the Gradient Map filter. 02. Link the elements Now we can start to link these elements. Start by placing the Cells 3 at the beginning of the graph with the BnW Spots 1. These two generators will be linked to the first two Levels filters, and linked together with the Blend filter. Link the Levels filter of the Cells 3 generator to the Height to Normal World Units filter, the third Levels filter and the fourth Levels filter. The Height to Normal World Units filter will be linked to the Normal output, the third Levels to the Roughness output and the fourth to the Height output. Finally, connect the Blend filter with the Gradient Map, and this one directly to the Base Color output. 03. Adjust parameters Once you've finished linking every element of the scene, it's time to fix some of the parameters. In particular we need to fix the first two Levels filters of the substance: the first is linked to the Cells 3 generator and must be adjusted in order to increase the brightness of the texture, and the second generator (linked to the BnW Spots 1 noises) must be adjusted in order to decrease the contrast of the texture. For the other parameters of the Levels filters choose arbitrarily – but as always I suggest you don’t exaggerate. The latest element to fix is the Gradient Map. This filter is probably one of the most important; in fact it can help to give colour to the material. For this project I created a shade of red, but this element, like the others, can be changed as you prefer. This article was originally published in 3D World, the world's best-selling magazine for CG artists. Buy issue 236 or subscribe. Read more: Create a tiles material in Substance Designer Substance Designer 5.5 review Creating convincing 3D materials View the full article

Take any creative field and you'll find well-known influencers who are responsible for leading the way, either with new interpretations, technical approaches or ideas. This is true whether you're looking at David Bailey in the photography world, or Tracey Emin in fine art. It comes about because some practitioners define a movement or technique, either inventing it, championing it, or otherwise leading a charge towards it. 10 steps to an engaging user experience Of course, the world of web design is no different. We've got our own champions and leaders, some of which are responsible for creating new web design tools, although it's surprisingly difficult to pick just a few names every web designer should know. Luckily, we live in an age of democratised sharing, with the likes of Facebook and Twitter making it easy to keep up to date with both current and future movers and shakers, so watch these fourteen and see who they recommend! A quick note of caution before we upset anyone, these names aren't ranked or in any specific order. If we've missed someone you think should be in our list, let us know. 01. Sara Soueidan Twitter: @SaraSoueidan A Lebanon-based frontend UI developer and author, Sara has worked with clients across the globe including Netflix, The Royal Schiphol Group, Smashing Magazine and more. She runs workshops and helps companies and agencies build clean frontend foundations for websites and applications, with a strong focus on progressive enhancement, performance and accessibility. 02. Abby Covert Twitter: @Abby_the_IA Abby Covert is a senior staff information architect at Etsy and specialises in delivering collaborative information architecture processes, as well as teaching those that she works with along the way. Speaking and writing under the pseudonym Abby the IA, she focuses on sharing information architecture content with those working within the design and technology communities, and is co-founder of World IA Day. She's also the author of How to Make Sense of Any Mess, a book about information architecture for everybody. 03. Ethan Marcotte Twitter: @beep If there's one man in the web industry who probably doesn't need an introduction, it's Ethan Marcotte. One of the web's best-known designers, Marcotte is a regular and popular speaker on the conference circuit and, in his own words, the one who "started that whole 'responsive web design' thing". 04. Chris Coyier Twitter: @chriscoyier A world-known CSS expert and HTML guru, Chris Coyier writes one of the most popular CSS blogs on the web, CSS-Tricks. Throughout his career, Chris has published many tutorials, websites, and scripts to help designers improve their skills. A co-founder of CodePen, Chris can also be found at web design and development podcast ShopTalk. 05. Karen McGrane Twitter: @karenmcgrane UX expert Karen McGrane motto is simple - 'On a good day, I make the web more awesome. On a bad day, I make it suck less'. A content strategist and user experience designer, McGrane has over 15 years experience of making big, complicated websites. Currently managing partner of Bond Art + Science, she is also the author of Content Strategy for Mobile. 06. Dan Cederholm Twitter: @simplebits Dan Cederholm is the author of five web design books covering everything from standards-based code approaches to Sass. As well as writing, Cederholm is a practising web designer, and a popular speaker. Alongside Rich Thornett, Cederholm is a co-founder of the popular dribbble.com show-and-tell website that allows designers to upload micro-shots of their work in progress. 07. Sarah Parmenter Twitter: @sazzy User interface designer Sarah Parmenter specialises in design for the web, iPhone and iPad. Owner of design studio You Know Who and co-host of the Happy Monday podcast, Parmenter can often be found travelling the world to speak at the world's leading web design conferences. Her client list includes Blackberry, News International, STV and The National Breast Cancer Foundation of America. 08. Dave Shea Twitter: @mezzoblue Dave Shea is most famous for his CSS Zen Garden project, which helped spearhead the move from table-based web design layout to CSS-based layouts. The website became very popular, both helping to push the boundaries of what designs could be achieved with CSS alone, and also encouraging web designers the world over to adopt the approach. 09. Jeffrey Zeldman Twitter: @zeldman Jeffrey Zeldman is perhaps the best known of all the people featured in our list. He's the author of a must-have book, Designing with Web Standards, publisher of books via A Book Apart, and is the driving force behind the immensely popular industry leading online journal, A List Apart. Zeldman is also the founder of Happy Cog studios, a US-based consultancy with clients including MTV, Ben & Jerry's and Stanford University. 10. Rachel Andrew Twitter: @rachelandrew Rachel is a web developer, speaker and prolific writer. Her books include titles for SitePoint, Apress and Five Simple Steps, covering the likes of PHP web development, CSS3 Layout Modules and Adobe's Dreamweaver web design tool. Aside from her speaking and writing, Rachel is the Managing Director of edgeofmyseat.com, a web development consultancy known for its Perch CMS app. 11. Simon Collison Twitter: @colly Simon Collison is a designer, speaker and author. Having worked in a variety of situations throughout his career, Collison shares his knowledge on web design via books and conferences. He's also a proud partner with Fictive Kin, and organises the annual New Adventures in Web Design event in his hometown of Nottingham. 12. Veerle Pieters Twitter: @vpieters Veerle Pieters is a hugely talented graphic designer from Belgium, best known for both her work through Duoh!, the agency she co-founded with Geert Leyseele, and her blog at veerle.duoh.com where she shares insights and tutorials. She's also an author and speaker, and has worked on some high profile projects including the GUI for ExpressionEngine. 13. Cameron Moll Twitter: @cameronmoll Cameron Moll is a well-known designer who speaks regularly at web design conferences across the world. As well as the Authentic Jobs website, which Moll is responsible for, he's collaborated on books with the likes of Andy Budd and Simon Collison. As well as his speaking and books, Moll is well known for a series of typographical posters rendered with letterpress, which are well worth a look! Related articles: 29 Chrome extensions for web designers 35 brilliantly designed 404 error pages What is Sass? View the full article

We’ve curated a cracking collection of fantastic new graphic design tools this month, all of which are guaranteed to speed up your workflow and help get those creative juices flowing. From a slick new keyboard that claims it’s the product “Apple should be making – but better” to a beautiful new book packed with tips and tricks for making it as a designer, and more, we’ve got all the best new tools for graphic designers right here. If you’re one of the thousands of creatives around the world crying out for a mechanical keyboard to use with your Apple device of choice, the new Kono Hexgears X-1 keyboard will be of interest. Launched as a Kickstarter campaign, the X-1 is an ultra-thin, high performance, multi-device Bluetooth mechanical keyboard that claims to be better than Apple’s Magic keyboard. Kaihua ’Choc’ switches promise 70 million presses (which is much longer than industry standard Cherry MX switches, say the team), while discrete wired (USB-C) and wireless (Bluetooth) modes give you ultimate portability. The Kickstarter, which will run until 23 August, 3:59 PM BST, has easily beat its funding goals. If you want to support the project, you’ll need to pledge $99 or more before Thursday to secure your own X-1. Designer Radim Malinic is gearing up to release the second volume of his best-selling journal, Book of Ideas 2. In the follow-up, he shares more learnings and musings on how to succeed in the fast-paced creative industries. Chapters cover everything from using humour and how to entertain the “right wrongs” to creativity for good, embracing limitations and more. Malinic's new graphic design book is due for release on 7 September, but you can preorder now for £16.99. The ultra-portable Surface Go is a 10-inch Windows tablet that aims to be a smaller and more affordable Surface Pro. A follow-up to 2015’s Surface 3, the tiny tablet runs a full version of Windows 10 (in S mode) on an Intel Pentium chip, and starts at $400 with 64GB of flash storage and 4GB memory – that’s double Apple’s latest iPad. Like the rest of the Surface family, the Go features Microsoft’s excellent hinge, which bends nearly 180 degrees, turning the machine into a digital canvas for drawing and note-taking. And if you invest in a new Surface Go Type Cover keyboard you’ll find typing more comfortable than other 10-inch devices, with full-sized keys (positioned in a smaller space) and a glass trackpad. The responsive display is gorgeous. It isn’t the sharpest at 1,800 x 1,200 pixels, but colour accuracy is excellent. However, the new iPad is technically more powerful – if you’re looking for a device for high-res image editing or video editing, the Go isn’t for you (although our friends at TechRadar report surprisingly powerful 3D rendering from the Go, thanks to Intel’s HD Graphics 615 card). Unlike the latest iPad, though, the Surface Go boasts a USB-C port and microSD card reader. This means that the tablet’s storage can be increased, and the Go has two ways to hard-wire a dock and expand displays. If you’re after a highly portable, full-blown 10-inch computer as a secondary device, the Surface Go makes for a lean, mean travel companion, and is worth a look. The best laptops for graphic design in 2018 The best computer for graphic design in 2018 Procreate 4.1 has landed, bringing more top tools to Savage Interactive’s excellent sketching, painting and illustration iPad app. Among the new features are an incredibly fast Liquify filter that lets you push, pull, pinch and twirl your artwork at 120fps – you can also scale the pressure, and use the live Reconstruct feature to tweak your changes to perfection. Warm Transform, meanwhile, enables you to wrap, fold and curve layers into position, while the new Symmetry Drawing Guide creates mirror strokes while you draw, speeding up your workflow. The app’s new Perspective tools have also been expanded to include 2D and Isometric Guides, and additional gesture control improvements also aid workflow. The update is free for existing users, and £9.99/US$9.99 for new customers. Also read: 30 of the best Procreate brushes Add rich gouache effects to your designs with this pack of 50 gouache brushes for Affinity Designer (you can also get them for Illustrator and Procreate). For $17, you get: 10 gouache liner brushes for giving the edges of objects a textured feel; 20 great 360-degree gouache shader brushes for adding depth to your work; and 20 gouache edge shader brushes for applying gouache textures to edges without the need for a mask – saving you time and CPU. Hand lettering artists Ian Barnard and Stefan Kunz have teamed up to create Grid Builder, a set of 35 individual grid shapes you can use as guides to ensure great composition within your lettering work – “so it doesn't look like letters just thrown onto a page”. The grids can be resized, stretched and re-coloured​ so that every layout you compose looks completely different from the next. And they work in most main lettering programs too, from Illustrator and Photoshop to Procreate; on desktop and mobile. The set costs $19. There are 107 texture brushes for Photoshop in this $11 mega bundle from illustrator and designer Jasmine Lové. They react to pen-pressure, pen-tilt, rotation and directional functions, and you can build many of them from light to dark for fantastic shading effects on 3D objects in your paintings. Related articles: The best 4K monitors for designers 8 best external hard drives and SSDs for Mac and PC The 40 best Photoshop plugins View the full article

It's that time of the month again – the latest issue of Computer Arts magazine is on sale now. In the pages of issue 283, we explore the future of experimental typography and look at how it will make you a better designer. From shaking up a classic font like Helvetica to exploring the connection between type and technology, there's plenty to mull over. Buy Computer Arts issue 283 now Eagle-eyed readers and subscribers will notice that we're shaking up the format of the magazine this issue, too. For our cover, we've called upon the design skills of SPIN, who have created an amazing range of experimental designs that have taken the standard treatment in strange and exciting directions. This issue's experimental covers courtesy of SPIN Save up to 60% on a Computer Arts subscription Elsewhere in issue 283, we hear from freelance designers on how they cope when everything goes wrong. We also catch up with Jon Key to hear how the prolific artist chooses work and balances all of his incredible projects, including zines and activism oriented typography. Meanwhile, the tiny team at Studio Sutherl& reveal how they strip back an idea to produce simple but brilliant results. You won't want to miss it! Take a look at what's inside Computer Arts issue 283 by scrolling left to right through the gallery below with the arrow icons. Computer Arts is the world's best-selling design magazine, bursting at the seams with insight, inspiration, interviews and all the best new design projects. For all this delivered direct to your door each month, subscribe to Computer Arts. Right now you can save up to 60%, and receive a free Computer Arts tote bag when you subscribe. Related articles: The 10 commandments of typography The rules of responsive web typography How to improve your digital typography View the full article

Falling into a painted hole is the sort of surreal misadventure you'd expect to catch out Wile E. Coyote, but that's just what happened at an installation of Anish Kapoor's experimental design work at the Fundação de Serralves, the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Porto, Portugal. The artwork in question is Kapoor's 1992 piece Descent into Limbo. This installation features a cube-shaped building containing a 2.5 metre hole set into the floor. Ever the fan of optical illusions, Turner Prize-winning Kapoor painted the hole black to make it look like a 2D circle. Despite the museum following all security measures, displaying warning signs and positioning a member of gallery staff inside the installation building itself, an Italian man in his 60s fell into Descent into Limbo. 30 mind-bending trompe l'oeil illusions Following the accident, which took place on 13 August, the museum closed the installation to assess the situation and ensure it doesn't happen again. Fortunately, the hospitalised museum-goer is said to be in good condition and will return home shortly. This isn't the only time the artist has experimented with the colour black. Back in 2016, Kapoor acquired the exclusive rights to a pigment so black that it absorbs 99.96 per cent of light. Descent into Limbo is one of the 56 pieces of the artist's work on display as part of Anish Kapoor: Works, Thoughts, Experiments. The exhibition is the first major show of Kapoor's work in Portugal, with Descent into Limbo due to reopen soon. [lead image screenshot taken from Serraives Museum via YouTube] Related articles: 5 tips for understanding colour theory 3 huge colour trends for 2018 12 colours and the emotions they evoke View the full article

Want to start a podcast and reach lots of followers? Check out How To Start A Podcast Bundle Feat. John Lee Dumas. Stories are something we all love, and this bundle teaches you storytelling essentials that will push your podcast to the top of the iTunes Store. You'll find how to use dramatic tension, complex characters, and effective writing to produce a story that is gripping and compelling for your audience. You'll also discover how to build and shape your brand through actionable steps – finding the right gear, using effective marketing techniques, and more. Become the next big thing in podcasting with How To Start A Podcast Bundle Feat. John Lee Dumas. It's yours for only $39. Related articles: 10 amazing podcasts for digital artists 18 great web design podcasts The 10 best graphic design podcasts View the full article

An attacker could escalate privileges on the server, further penetrating the network, harvesting customer information or mounting credible social-engineering campaigns. View the full article

Researchers launched a Proof-of-Concept attack on two Android mobile phones and an embedded system board. View the full article

The recently-patched flaw could corrupt memory in such a way that an attacker could execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. View the full article

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