Rss Bot

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-security-heres-how-to-shield-your-files-from-ransomware-says-microsoft … View the full article

Originally I was planning to write an upbeat account of some of the things that freshly graduated students armed with carefully crafted design portfolios and newish designers need to know when entering the design profession. However, following the UK's decision to leave the EU, the reality is things are getting tougher for young designers and the industry as a whole. Against this backdrop, here are five things that newbies need to know. 01. Take the rough with the smooth Most of us choose to become a designer because we crave the adrenalised buzz that comes from being valued for our creativity. But this craving blinds us to the fact that being a designer also means that we have to live with rejection, failure and missed opportunities. I’m sure that dentists and insurance brokers will say that it’s no different for them; the pleasure of doing any job well is undeniable, and there are workplace traumas in every profession. But design seems an especially precarious occupation: for every award-winning logo, there are dozens of projects that don’t turn out the way we hoped they would. Learning to deal with the mix of joy and pain is an essential requirement for a career in design. 02. Avoid unpaid internships It’s true that there have been occasions when the design world was awash with cash, and students and tyro designers were hired by the yard. The last time I can remember this happening was during the dotcom boom of the late ’90s. But getting a first job, and then getting the right job, has always been difficult. Every generation has to clamber over obstacles, and for today’s newcomers there’s the added difficulty of a culture of perpetual internships. Unpaid internships should be resisted no matter how appealing – and design studios that offer them should be ashamed of themselves. But a career in design has always demanded self-reliance and an entrepreneurial spirit. Failure to understand this will make life difficult for the new designer. 03. Prepare to collaborate Many of us go into design looking for the reward of personal authorship. Paradoxically, design has now become more of a collaborative activity than ever before. You can argue that design has always been collaborative. Graphic designers used to work closely with typesetters, for example. But these tended to be unequal relationships, and therefore not genuine collaborations. In the new multidisciplinary design landscape, collaboration has become almost mandatory. Shared authorship is the new personal authorship This is due to the increasing complexity of communications in a multichannel world, but also because clients are demanding work that comes out of collaborative intelligence rather than the solo instincts of an individual. The days of Leonardo Da Vinci, as one expert has noted, are over. Shared authorship is the new personal authorship. 04. Guard what sets you apart from AI I used to believe that design had immunity from automation: how could a machine replace a designer? But automation in design is already a reality. Smart software and algorithms that remove the need for the eye and hand of a designer now do much of what designers once did. Branded websites can be downloaded from the internet; off-the-shelf logos can be bought for a few dollars; brand identities are implemented by marketing people using templates; and businesses can be started with a Facebook account. How long before AI replaces designers? 05. Keep on learning But there are good reasons for optimism. Designers have agile minds – you can’t be a good designer without one. This mental agility means that designers are equipped to deal with a world of constant change. Few of us will be doing the same job in 10 years’ time, but designers are amongst the most able to adjust to new ways of doing things. As long as we remain willing to learn and relearn, it is possible to be optimistic about design’s future. This article was originally published in Computer Arts magazine issue 256. Buy it here. Related articles: Five design student stereotypes to avoid Must-read books for design students The student guide to working at a top agency View the full article

In this design-obsessed age, branding is becoming more and more important for all kinds of organisations. But if your prime constituency is the design industry itself, you’re really going to have to pull it out of the bag when it comes to your logo design. Here we select our favourite logos from design industry organisations. We hope they inspire your own logo design projects. But if there’s an iconic design industry logo you feel we should have included, let us know on Twitter or Facebook. Before you do though, note that we did want to include Sid Lee’s classic Art Directors Club logo. We couldn’t, though, because the ADC has now ceased to exist on its own, merging with The One Club. 01. D&AD After more than half a century, the D&AD logo still doesn’t look datedD&AD, which stands for Designers & Art Directors Association, was founded by a group of London-based creatives including David Bailey, Terence Donovan and Alan Fletcher and Colin Forbes, in 1962. Its aim was to celebrate innovation and great work in the advertising and design industries. One year later Forbes, who was then working at Fletcher/Forbes/Gill, designed the organisation’s logo by sticking its four characters onto the sides of a wooden cube and photographing the result. It’s a testament to the brilliance of this design that, with just one major tweak, it’s stayed in place for 55 years and counting… yet still looks strikingly modern. The latest update of the logo, created by Rose Design in 2006, retained the essence of Forbes’ design but modernised it by placing it inside a hexagon. This made it easier to apply consistently to all corporate materials. The hexagon also represents the top of a Black Pencil, the distinctive awards D&AD gives out for superlative work every year. 02. Adobe Adobe’s 1990 logo has reached iconic status within the design industryAnother iconic industry logo that’s stayed in place for decades and yet still shows no signs of dating is that of design software giant Adobe. Adobe was founded in 1982 and its first emblem contained the full company name, Adobe Systems Incorporated. It was created by Marva Warnock, graphic designer and wife of company co-founder John Warnock. A new, sleeker logo was created by in-house in 1990, featuring a stylised white A on a red background, and it’s been in place ever since. Instantly recognisable by anyone who’s ever opened Photoshop or Illustrator, it’s become somewhat iconic across the global design industry. Since 2013, Adobe has capitalised on this phenomenon by asking a range of well-known creatives, including Sagmeister & Walsh, Alex Trochut, GMunk and Craig Ward, to produce their own unique versions of the logo. You can see what they’ve come up with on this Behance page. 03. SXSW The SXSW logo has been modernised for the long haulStarting life as a local music festival in 1987, South by Southwest has become one of the world’s biggest music, film and interactive design festivals. (The name, a play on the name of the classic Hitchcock film North by Northwest, points to its geographic location in Austin, Texas.) Until recently, the festival commissioned a new logo every year, and then were generally quite colourful and cartoony. But 2017 saw a change of tack when it comes to the event’s visual identity. The organisers asked Austin agency Foxtrot to create a new, cleaned up logo and typography that could be used consistently for many years to come, and the design shown above is the result. The new monochrome, sans-serif wordmark, with its self-explanatory directional arrow, does the job perfectly. So much so that, even though relatively young, it already feels like a classic. 04. Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) Pentagram’s logo for SEGD is beautifully originalDescribing itself as a “global, multidisciplinary community of professionals who plan, design, and build experiences that connect people to place”, the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) is a non-profit organisation for graphic, architectural, interior, landscape, and industrial designers. Its current logo was created in 2009 by designed by Pentagram partner Michael Gericke and his team. This colourful creation consists of four brightly coloured panels that, say Pentagram can be interpreted as “three-dimensional forms, printed graphics or interactive menus”. This logo succeeds in being unique and distinctive while still offering the geometric flexibility to work across a variety of media; some of which weren’t even invented at the time of its conception. In an age of minimalist tech logos that all look the same, Gericke’s design offer a great example of how a logo can be simple and stylish without defaulting to the lowest common denominator. 05. Society of Graphic Designers of Canada The GDC logo conveys a sense of both professionalism and national identityFounded in 1956, the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) is a member-based organisation of design professionals, educators, administrators, students, and associates in communications, marketing, media and design-related fields. Its current logo was created in 2014 by Vancouver-based designers Dennis Boyle and John Ngan. The aim of this redesign was to help promote the organisation to designers and its certification process to the wider business community. Combining the vertical strips of the country’s flag with the vertical shapes of the font, Braggadocio, created a compelling design that instantly read ‘Canada’ to its intended audience. There’s also a strong sense of movement and dynamism to the design that adds a real sense of authority to this national body’s visual identity. You can learn more about the thinking behind the logo in the video above. 06. Institute of Designers Ireland RichardsDee’s logo design for The Institute of Designers in Ireland is super-cleanThe Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) represents designers and design students who practise on the island of Ireland and abroad. Founded in 1972, the non-profit organisation covers all design disciplines including graphic design, interior design and product design. Its current logo was created in 2014 by Dublin brand and design agency RichardsDee. It sets the main three words of the organisation’s lengthy name in a condensed sans serif with smooth round corners, inside an overarching ‘D’. This design may not be the most exciting logo ever but no one can argue it isn’t super-clean. Black and white, simple, legible... what’s not to like? Related articles: 5 ways to use imagery to create better branding Best Mac apps to make you more creative 7 classic logos that should never have been changed View the full article

https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/bad-rabbit-ransomware/19887/ … View the full article

The DUHK Attack leverages a 20-year-old random number generator flaw to recover private keys. More pertinent, researchers said, is that the flaw exposes gaps in the FIPS certification process. View the full article

You've learnt how to draw a range of subjects, assembled all the necessary tools, set up your own workspace and you're ready to start your artistic journey in paint. But before you do, it's worth knowing some fundamental painting techniques that will to help you along the way. Here are seven essential painting techniques that will have you painting like a pro in no time. 01. Underpainting Work paint up from thin to thick, especially when using slow-drying paintsI never work from white when using oils or acrylics. Create an underpainting in burnt umber or a mix of burnt sienna and phthalo blues to establish shadows and values. Acrylics are probably the best medium to use at this stage as they're quick-drying and permanent. Work paint up from thin to thick, especially when using slow-drying paints. It's impossible to work on top of heavy, wet paint. In the same way, work up to highlights, adding the brightest (and usually heavier) paint at the end. Have a roll of kitchen towel to hand to clean brushes and remove any excess paint if you make a mistake. 02. Blocking in Brushes come in a number of shapes and fibre typesBrushes come in a number of shapes and with different fibre types, all of which give very different results. The key is to try all of them as you paint. The most versatile are a synthetic/sable mix – these brushes can be used with most of the different paint types. Brushes come in flat and round types and it pays to have a selection of both. Check out our guide to picking the right brush to learn more. I work with a range of brushes. For most of the early work I use larger, flatter and broader brushes. A filbert is a good general brush for blocking in form and paint. It has a dual nature, combining aspects of flat and round brushes so it can cover detail as well as larger areas. I tend to use smaller brushes only at the end of the painting process. 03. Building up texture Have a dry flat brush you can use to blend and create smooth transitionsHave a dry, flat brush that you can use to blend your paint and create smooth transitions. I tend to like lots of texture and like to see brush marks in my own work. Almost anything can be used to add texture to your paint. There are ready-made texture media available, but I have seen items such as egg shell and sand used to add interest to a painting. One tip is to use an old toothbrush to spatter your image with paint. This can be remarkably effective at suggesting noise and grain. 04. Dry brushing This is a method of applying colour that only partially covers a previously dried layer of paint. Add very little paint to your brush and apply it with very quick, directional strokes. This method tends to work best when applying light paint over dark areas/dried paint and is useful for depicting rock and grass textures. 05. Sgraffito Removing paint can be as important as applying itRemoving paint can be as important as applying it. Sgraffito is the term used when you scratch away paint while it's wet to expose the underpainting. It's especially useful when depicting scratches, hair, grasses and the like. You can use almost any pointed object for this – try rubber shaping tools or the end of a brush. 06. Glazing Glazing is the process of laying a coat of transparent paint over a dry part of the painting, and it's used for intensifying shadows and modulating colour. A light transparent blue over dry yellow will of course create green. 07. Painting with mediums Mediums can be added to paint to modulate its consistency, drying time and textureMediums are fluids that can be added to paint to modulate its consistency, drying time and texture. In the case of acrylics, you get different mediums that make the paint matte or gloss. However, I tend to use the matte medium mainly to seal my paper or board, so paint doesn't soak into it. This article originally appeared in the ImagineFX special bookazine How to Paint and Draw. Related articles: How to draw and paint - 100 pro tips and tutorials 10 essential oil painting tips and techniques How to draw manga characters View the full article

The podcast format is as popular as ever, and it's easy to see why. They fit in perfectly with our lifestyles, enabling you to make the most of your commute, run, or down time, and are a relaxing way to absorb web design inspiration and information. We've asked some leading web designers to tell us what they're listening to at the moment, and what they get out of it. Plus we've listed some of our own favourites from past and present. They're all free, so why not try some out and subscribe to your favourites? 01. Motion and Meaning Motion and Meaning covers the growing world of motion in web designHosted by Val Head, with Cennydd Bowles joining her in the first season and various web experts guesting in the second, Motion and Meaning is a podcast discussing the ever-growing world of motion and animation in web design, and why it's an important tool that designers need to pay attention to. Covering everything from the basic principles of animation through to advanced tools and techniques, it's an essential listen for anyone keen to bring more movement into their UX, and each episode comes complete with a full transcript that you can read at your leisure. 02. Shop Talk Show The Shop Talk Show is a treasure trove of web expertiseWith over 280 episodes online - with a new one being added every week - you're certain to find something worth listening to on Dave Rupert and Chris Coyier's Shop Talk Show. Covering all manner of subjects within the worlds of frontend web design, development and UX, and featuring plenty of expert guests, it's essential listening if you're keen to stay up-to-date with the latest web technologies. 03. JavaScript Jabber Can't get enough of JavaScript? Step right up!If you don't care for JavaScript then steer well clear of JavaScript Jabber, because that's pretty much all it likes to talk about. If, on the other hand, you live and breathe JavaScript then you're in for a treat, with a fresh discussion every week covering JavaScript, frontend development, community, careers and frameworks. 04. Responsive Web Design Podcast Responsive Web Design Podcast is co-hosted by Karen McGrane and Ethan MarcotteResponsive Web Design Podcast is co-hosted by Karen McGrane and Ethan Marcotte. In each episode, McGrane and Marcotte interview the people who make responsive redesigns happen. 05. Responsive Design Podcast A podcast that interviews some of the best names in the businessA podcast by Justin Avery that interviews some of the best names in the business about their experiences of responsive web design. 06. Developer Tea Developer Tea is the 10-minute podcast for developersDeveloper Tea is the 10-minute podcast for developers. It's engineered to be a highly-concentrated, short, frequent podcast specifically for developers who like to learn on their tea (and coffee) break. 07. Style Guide Podcast A small batch series of interviews on Style GuidesThis podcast offers a small batch series of interviews on Style Guides, hosted by Anna Debenham and Brad Frost. 08. CodePen Radio Discover the ins and outs of running a web software businessChris Coyier, Alex Vazquez, and Tim Sabat, the co-founders of CodePen, talk about the ins and outs of running a web software business. 09. Let's Make Mistakes Everyone in the web design and development industry should be listening to Let's Make Mistakes Karen McGrane, the content strategist and UX designer behind the Responsive Web Design Podcast, says: "Everyone in the web design and development industry should be listening to Let's Make Mistakes. Leah [Reich] and Mike [Monteiro] are a great combination." 10. BizCraft Carl Smith and Gene Crawford tackle issues related to design business Dan Mall has worked as a designer at Happy Cog and Big Spaceship, and this year he founded his own venture, SuperFriendly. He champions BizCraft. "Carl Smith and Gene Crawford tackle issues related to design business," he says. "As someone starting a new business, everything they discuss is invaluable." 11. The Businessology Show Dan Mall talks about the business of design and the design of business Mall's next selection is an obvious choice... "If I could toot my own horn for a minute, I have my own podcast with my CPA Jason Blumer," he says. "We talk about the business of design and the design of business, hoping to help give a kick in the butt to those who want to take their careers to the next level." 12. Data Stories Brian Suda listens to Data Stories Iceland-based Brian Suda is a software developer, master informatician and author of A Practical Guide to Designing with Data. As well as design, his passions include Microformats, XHTML and PHP. He listens to Data Stories, and says it's: "A great, occasional podcast about data visualisations from two of the world leading experts. Sometimes the discussion is very academic, but other times they experiment with audience participation. There's a wealth of knowledge in each episode. If you're into data viz, infographics, storytelling, journalism and working with data, you need to be listening." 13. 99% invisible Suda's favourite podcast is 99% invisible Suda's favourite podcast is 99% invisible. "Only 15-20 minutes per episode, it's the perfect time for a nice walk or other activity. The production quality and stories are always amazing. If you're detailed oriented, this podcast focuses on the 99 per cent of the work that went into things you never even notice. For any designer, architect or innovator, listening should be mandatory!" 14. The Back to Front Show Keir Whitaker discusses backend tech, frontend dev and plenty in-between Keir Whitaker, experiential marketing lead at Shopify, also bigs up his own podcast: "Kieran Masterton and I host a weekly podcast in which we discuss backend tech, frontend dev and plenty in-between with a view of sharing experiences, questioning trends and sharing interesting articles, etc." 15. The Big Web Show Everything that's important on the web, hosted by Jeffrey ZeldmanThis podcast features everything that's important on the web, hosted by Jeffrey Zeldman with special guests including everyone who's anyone in the world of web design. Although it's been a while since the last podcast went up on the site, the Twitter account is active, so we hope for more shows soon. 16. Boagworld Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington are joined by a variety of guests to discuss topics for web designersHosts by Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington are joined by a variety of guests to discuss topics for designers, developers and website owners. As it states on the website, the podcast is "fun, informative and quintessentially British!" 17. CTRL+CLICK CAST The tech podcast delves into all areas of the web design industryCTRL+CLICK CAST was formerly the ExpressionEngine Podcast, but thankfully it is still hosted by Lea Alcantara and Emily Lewis. The tech podcast focuses on content management systems but delves into all areas of the web design industry too. 18. The Gently Mad The Gently Mad is an interview show about what drives us as creators and connects us as peopleThe Gently Mad is an interview show about what drives us as creators and connects us as people. Each week, host Adam Clark and guests explore the stories, experiences and insights of awesome people who make awesome things. This updated article is based on a feature that originally appeared on the net magazine website. Subscribe to net here. Related articles: 8 great 3D web projects to inspire you 12 common JavaScript questions answered The benefits of working remotely View the full article

Whether you're new to illustration or you're a seasoned professional, there's always more to learn. But with so many options, how do you know where to focus your time – or more importantly, where to spend your money? This round-up explores great 10 ways to learn, including both paid and free online resources, books in print, and even some of the best YouTube channels for illustrators. If you're looking for a few more resources in your learning toolbox, this should get you started. Online learning You can learn almost anything online these days, so it's no surprise at how many places offer courses on design and illustration. Here are my top three picks for online learning. 01. CreativeLive From free CreateLive offers online classes for creative professionals, including classes that focus specifically on art and design. You'll need to pay between $39 and $199 for its on-demand courses, but it also offers a ton of free, live and on-air classes. With more than 10 million students and 650 instructors, there's a large, growing community of creatives waiting for you to connect with and learn with. 02. Society of Visual Storytelling From US$10 per video/ $12.50 per month to access everything SVSLearn is another online learning resource for illustrators. Since 2012, SVS co-founders Will Terry and Jake Parker have been making instructional videos that highlight their work process. Since then, Lee White has joined the team, along with other top illustrators and industry professionals, such as Guy Francis and Mel Milton. 03. London Art College From $283/£190 My last recommendation in this category is the London Art College. The London Art College offers 30 online art courses for all ages and abilities. Its courses are accessible 24/7, and you can work at your own pace. As an added bonus, you'll have access to your own personal tutor. Prices are reasonable, and there are a few different study types available: Diploma (most priced at $508/£360), Certificate ($396/£275), Short ($283/£190), and Young Artists ($198/£125). Recommended books Books are another great resource for continued learning. If you're a designer or an illustrator, make sure you have these three books nearby – or for a more comprehensive collection, take a look at our list of books every graphic designer should read. 04. Universal Principals of Design $25/£13 Whether you're an artist, illustrator, designer, or developer, the Universal Principals of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler is a must-have. Inside its pages, you'll learn how to make your designs work for you (and your clients) by reviewing many different concepts and practices, from a variety of industries and disciplines. 05. Illustration that Works $20.40/£26 They call it the 'everything you need to know' guide to the world of professional illustration, and I couldn't agree more. Greg Houston breaks down the technical aspects of illustration and design in this 200-plus page book. In addition, there are several assignments for you to try, and 400 examples for you to follow. 06. Creative Illustration $29/£27 Another remarkable book is Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis. In fact, if you can only have one book on your shelf, this should be the one – especially if you're serious about a professional illustration career. Loomis breaks this book into seven sections: Line, Tone, Color, Telling the Story, Creating Ideas, Fields of Illustration, and Experimenting and Studies. Although some of the illustrations are a bit outdated, the lessons are timeless. The best of YouTube YouTube is often overlooked as a 'serious' learning platform. And while some of the content isn't great, there are tons of useful resources out there. In fact, there's so much stuff for illustrators that it was difficult for me to pick my top three – so I picked my top four instead. 07. Draw with Jazza Free One of my favourite YouTube channels is Draw with Jazza. Run by Josiah Brooks, Draw with Jazza is filled with a little bit of everything: reviews, tutorials, unboxings and more. If you're looking for an all-round good channel, this is your best bet. I had an opportunity to interview Josiah on Roundabout: Creative Chaos (listen here). 08. Will Terrell Free Will Terrell's channel is another great resource for illustrators. He offers tips, advice, tutorials and interviews. He also uploads a lot of speed-sketching videos, which are fun to watch. 09. Brandon Green Free Although the number of new videos has slowed a little, the existing content on this channel is more than enough. Brandon Green's artistic technique and teaching style will keep you coming back for more. 10. Will Terry Free Last, but certainly not least, is Will Terry. You probably recognise his name from the Society of Visual Storytelling, above. On his YouTube channel, Terry gives advice to illustrators about business, marketing, and professional practices. There's a lot of encouragement and anecdotes, and the occasional interview. Related articles: 13 imaginative web comics to inspire you 10 great new tools for illustrators this September How to use digital tools to create a hand-drawn look View the full article

JavaScript is a fantastic, flexible web design tool, as our top examples of JavaScript article shows. But even with the biggest of tools, there's always more to learn and discover. Here are 12 questions (and answers) about JavaScript that have left many developers stumped – even experienced JavaScript coders. On this page we run through common questions and answers, including those often trotted out in job interviews. On the next page, we take a more in-depth look at two more complex areas: How to use JavaScript to improve site performance, and how to future-proof JavaScript code. 01. What is prototypical inheritance and how useful is it? In JavaScript, almost everything is an object. Every object has a prototype, from which it inherits values and behaviours. If an object doesn't include a property that's being requested, JS will look for it inside its prototype instead. It carries on up the chain of prototypes until it finds a match, or returns an error. This is useful when making objects that share the same values and operations. By having these live on a prototype, only one copy of them needs to exist, making projects memory efficient. Prototypes can be added to objects on creation using Object.create(), or after with Object.setPrototypeOf(). ES2015 has a 'class' keyword that, when used with 'extends', will use that value as its prototype. 02. How can JavaScript be used to improve accessibility on the web? It is common for modern web accessibility tools to be able to handle JavaScript and dynamic content. It can be used to help these technologies as long as it is used as an enhancement rather than required to function. A common way to assist users is to provide useful focus management. A calendar, for example, should be able to cycle through days using the arrow keys, with up and down keys skipping a week at a time. It is just a case of listening for keyboard events while focus is within that component. Important data changing as a result of JavaScript, for example form feedback, should also be announced for screen readers. Often this is achieved by marking up a container as a live region. 03. What is event bubbling and how is it different to event capturing? Event delegation is a technique that uses event bubbling to its advantage. By adding a listener to a parent element, developers are alerted to events for any of its childrenBoth event capturing and bubbling are both part of a process called 'event propagation', where browsers respond to events happening on the page. Older browsers used to do one or the other, but nowadays they all do both. The first phase – the capturing phase – occurs as soon as an event happens. It starts at the topmost level, which is either 'document' or 'window' depending on the event. From there it goes through <html> and whatever lives inside it until it reaches the element the event occurred within. The second phase – the bubbling phase – then happens. It repeats the process but in reverse, beginning with the element the event was triggered by and 'bubbling' to the topmost <html> element. When adding event listeners, this is the default. 04. How does event delegation improve code on sites with lots of interactive elements? Websites often have lots of dynamic content regularly changing on the page. If these elements need to be interactive, these would need some kind of event listener picking up those interactions. If each element required its own listener, this would clutter up code and increase what the browser needs to keep track of. Event delegation is a technique that uses event bubbling to its advantage. By adding a listener to a parent element, developers are alerted to events for any of its children. Inside the event callback, the original target of that event will always be the 'target', which can be used to decide what to do next. For example, a data attribute could hold an ID to reference an object property. 05. What are closures and how can they be useful in organising code? Functions in JavaScript use what is called the 'lexical environment', meaning it has access to variables defined outside, but those defined inside can only be accessed within. Calling outer() will show 'I love Web Designer!', but if 'shout' or 'x' are referenced outside of outer(), both will be undefined. A closure is a combination of a function alongside its lexical environment. In this case, the closure is the 'outer' function. These are useful when creating multiple components, as anything declared inside will not affect others. They can be used to create private functions and variables in a similar way to other object-oriented languages like Python. The module pattern uses closures extensively to provide structured ways for modules to interact. 06. What does 'use strict' mean at the top of a block of code? ES5 introduced an optional variant of JavaScript called 'strict mode'. In strict mode, quirks of earlier versions would throw errors rather than result in unintended behaviour. Above we are accessing a variable that doesn't exist. Outside of strict mode, this would instead add myVar to the global scope, which if we were not careful could completely overwrite functionality defined earlier in the script. In strict mode, this throws an error and halts any destruction. ES2015 modules are in strict mode by default, but in closures created with functions, 'use strict' can be applied at a function level as well as an entire file. 07. What does the term 'hoisting' mean in reference to JavaScript? JavaScript is unique in that it does not need compiling before being distributed. A browser will compile scripts as it finds them and make notes of any functions and variables that are declared within. The browser then makes a second pass to execute the code, knowing where these functions and variables apply. As a block is executed, its function and variable declarations are 'hoisted' to the top of the block. In this example, we are able to use the 'welcome' function as it is hoisted up to the top of the script. 08. What is the difference between an arrow function and a regular function? ES2015 provided lots of changes and one to make an quick impact was arrow functions. The key difference, despite being shorter to write, is that arrow functions do not create their own value for 'this'. They will instead use the value of the enclosing block. In the above example, this would log out 1, 2, 3, etc once every second. With a regular function, this.x would be undefined, so it would log NaN. The body of an arrow function is assumed to be the return value from it. This makes them useful for promises, where values are passed through. Regular functions must explicitly return a value, or will return undefined. 09. Where should I use the 'let' and 'const' keywords instead of 'var'? Another fundamental change with ES2015 was the introduction of 'let' and 'const' as alternative ways to define variables. Variables declared in this way are limited to the block they were defined in. This provides more certainty that values created inside different blocks won't interfere with code outside. If the value of the variable will not change, use 'const' instead of 'let'. Errors are thrown when attempting to redefine a constant. Objects and array variables can still change internally, but are not completely replaced. Both 'let' and 'const' do not get hoisted like 'var', so cannot be referenced before they are initialised. Between the start of the block and the initialisation is known as the 'temporal dead zone' and can often be a source of confusion. 10. What is functional programming and how is it different? It is an alternative way of creating programs by passing application state exclusively through functions. By avoiding side effects, it's possible to develop code that's easy to understand. Traditionally, JavaScript projects are built with an object-oriented structure. Information about the current state of the program is held within objects, which get updated as the page changes. Functional programming provides a different way of thinking. While languages like F# have used it for a while now, ES2015 brought important methods to JavaScript that open this up to the web. All work must be done inside 'pure' functions. These are functions that are not affected by any data outside the scope of that function. In other words, if the same values are supplied to the function, the same result will always be returned. This also means that there can be no shared state between functions. Any state within an application that needs to be used should be passed as a parameter to a function, rather than accessed directly from it. Finally, code should avoid changing values after they are made. For example, each change of an object should return a copy of that object with the value changed. This is to avoid side effects, which can cause bugs and make code harder to test. Next page: How can I use JS to improve the performance of my site? and How can I future-proof my JavaScript code? 11. How can I use JS to improve the performance of my site? At a time where the majority of web browsing is done on a phone or a tablet, performance is critical. Not everybody has the latest device, and each delay and stutter could cost a customer. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to use JavaScript to stop this happening. Keep it passive Jagged scrolling is a clear sign something is up. In some cases, the browser is being forced to wait because of listeners applied to the page. Events such as 'wheel' or 'touchmove' are able to cancel scrolling, so the page has to wait until the event has completed before the default scrolling behaviour can begin. This can cause jerky and inconsistent scrolling, which makes for a poor user experience. To get around this, pass an object as the third parameter when adding an event listener. By marking the event as passive, the browser can assume scrolling will not be affected, so it can start immediately. This third parameter replaces the 'useCapture' option in older browsers, so it is important to use feature detection when making use of this type of listener. To intentionally disable scrolling, applying 'touch-action: none' in CSS will help in more browsers. Throttling events Events like scrolling and resizing fire as quickly as they can to make sure whatever is listening can stay up to date. If something resource intensive is happening on each event, this can quickly grind a page to a halt. Debouncing is a technique that throttles how often the callback to one of these events is called. The implementation of a debounce function and how often the function gets called will vary by project, but reducing the events to five times a second, for example, will see an instant improvement on the page. Focus on the viewport A common use of the scroll event is to detect when an element comes into view on the page. Even with debouncing, calling getBoundingClientRect() requires the browser to reanalyse the layout of the entire page. There is a new browser API called IntersectionObserver, which reports on the visibility of observed elements by calling a function whenever they enter or exit the viewport. For infinite scrolling sites, this can be used as a flag to remove or recycle older views. IntersectionObserver is available in all the latest browsers except Safari. It's worth using this API and falling back to older techniques, as the difference is vastly noticeable. Separate expensive work When working with large datasets or processing big files such as images, JavaScript can quickly lock up the browser window. All the work is getting performed on a single thread, so if that thread is busy the interface cannot update. If you know a process is going to take a long time to run, it is a good idea to put it inside a web worker. These are scripts that run on a separate thread, which leaves the user interface running smoothly. Scripts can talk to each other through a special message method. Web workers don’t have access to the DOM and some properties on the window object, so these messages can be used to pass the necessary information. 12. How can I future-proof my JavaScript code? One of JavaScript's core principles is that it always tries to avoid breaking changes where possible. The vast majority of code written today will still function a decade later, even in this ever-changing industry. Just because a block of code runs, however, does not mean it's future-proof. Will your codebase still make sense a few years later? Avoid spaghetti code When first creating a project, it can be tempting to write everything together. While that makes it explicit what each block of code is doing, it also means all behaviour is coupled together as well. If another area of the project needs that functionality, it will either be copied or rewritten. If bugs are found or a new feature is added, each version will need updating individually, which can be a time-consuming process. By keeping code modular, functionality can be included where it's needed. Once it's been written, any changes are instantly available. Techniques such as the module pattern can be implemented without affecting the rest of the project, which makes them easier to implement. Be framework agnostic Many modern frameworks, like React or Polymer, encourage developers to keep things modular through the creation of components. Each has its own way of communicating between other parts of the project. What happens when the next best framework arrives? Switching – or even just updating – frameworks can be a laborious task. Finding new ways for these old components to work together can eat up precious time. Where possible, use native JavaScript features to achieve results. This way, when changing frameworks these points of friction are minimised. For example, use objects to handle data manipulation before it gets handed to a component. This also helps when writing universal JavaScript. By avoiding using browser-based APIs where possible, code can be reused both in the browser and on the server, inside Node. Clean up Once modules are written, keep them clean. Anybody reading through them should understand its functionality to speed up debugging. Self-documenting code is a powerful tool to future-proof your code. Using descriptive names for variables in iterators, for example, can be clearer to read than generic names like 'i'. Most importantly, be consistent. By sticking to a uniform style, all code becomes readable. Use a style guide to define how code should look and use tools like ESLint to enforce it. Work at scale Being readable also extends to project structure. Without one, things can get overwhelming very quickly. When first starting out, having files in one directory keeps things simple. When scripts import modules, there is no confusion as to where they are located. As projects age, large collections of files can get lost in the masses. Keep a structure that scales well, such as storing all modules that deal with users in a 'users' directory. Ultimately, the best structure will depend on the project. For a single-page app, keeping model, view and controller logic separate is a must. Keep things testable Periodically run tests with tools like Jest to ensure all is working wellFrameworks like React encourage creating small, reusable components. Even with a scalable project structure, it can be hard to be sure they all still work correctly. By writing tests, projects can be deployed with confidence. Unit tests will work at a module level. Tools like Mocha and Jest let developers define an expected output for a given input. Periodically running these tests can make sure there are no side effects. Modules need to be written in a way that means they can be tested in isolation. This means having as few external dependencies as possible and not relying on global state. There's far more to project testing, such as integration and functional testing. These should cover as much of a project as possible to keep code working long into the future. Language of tomorrow Make sure your code works in older browsers by using a transpiler like BabelThe best way to future-proof code, however, is by writing it in the syntax of the future. While this might sound like a step into the unknown, there are tools that make it as easy as possible. Babel is a transpiler, which is a tool that converts one form of JavaScript to another. This is used to turn modern code into formats older browsers and environments can understand. ES2015 brought lots to JavaScript that can help write clean code, such as arrow functions, promises and native modules. The latest standard – ES2017 – brings even more convenience through async functions Given the right presets, Babel can help convert all these into code to use today. Eventually, projects will be able to skip the transpilation step altogether. But for now, they are a must to keep code future-proofed. This article originally appeared in Web Designer issue 265. Buy it here. Related articles: 20 JavaScript tools to blow your mind 10 really useful responsive web design tutorials Get started with web accessibility View the full article

You don't have to wait for Black Friday 2017 to score a bargain. For today's daily deal, we've got you a great discount on CPD certified Microsoft Excel training courses that you can take from your desk. If you think of Microsoft Excel as a boring old spreadsheet, it's time for you to take another look. This program is way more powerful than it might appear at first glance, and there is a reason it's trusted in just about every workplace. Learn your way around the essential piece of software with the eLearnExcel Microsoft Excel School. You can get a lifetime subscription on sale now for just $39 (approx £30). You can't walk into an office environment without seeing Microsoft Excel up on a computer screen. The program is integral for all sorts of tasks at all levels of businesses. Learn how to make the most of Microsoft's powerful program by working your way through the eLearnExcel Microsoft Excel School. You can get lifetime access to eight comprehensive courses that will teach you the ins and outs of this program. You'll also receive a diploma after you complete the courses to prove your skills. You can get a lifetime subscription to the eLearnExcel Microsoft Excel School on sale now for just $39 (approx £30) thanks to a massive price drop from the original retail price of $999. Don't miss out on these huge savings – grab this deal today. About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or the Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com Related articles: 16 top online coding courses 20 tools to make your team more productive Write without distractions with this BlankPage offer View the full article

For over 50 years, D&AD has been dedicated to recognising and celebrating the very best of creative excellence from studios and agencies around the world with its Pencil awards. Alongside that, the not-for-profit organisation works with students and young creatives to discover, nurture and elevate talent wherever it’s found, with its New Blood awards. And of course, this attracts energy and talent; persistence and curiosity – those forces that keep our industries in a perpetual state of change. This perpetual state poses challenges. We spoke to D&AD’s CEO, Tim Lindsay, and Bethan Morris, manager of D&AD’s New Blood Programme to find out more about how young creatives can future-proof themselves. 01. Consider alternative routes Despite media hand-wringing about algorithms, robots, and AI, you and I will still be part of the future, somewhere, somehow. And so too will a new batch of creative talent. But how will they be educated, and where will they come from? “Universities still offer excellent routes in,” says Morris, “but we need alternatives,” she insists. “Creativity struggles to be valued and is frequently overlooked by education systems and governments alike,” explains Morris. “In the UK alone, we’ve seen teacher shortages, a drastic reduction in the numbers studying design and technology, and a big mismatch between what’s being taught and the skills needed.” Where does D&AD come in? “We want to help creative people realise as early as possible that there are career paths open to them where they can get paid for doing what they love,” says Morris. Lindsay adds that creative roles need to be open to all. “The idea that creative excellence is available only to those who already have the ‘right networks’ has limited us for too long,” he says. “We want to work with businesses to attract a far greater diversity of talent into the industry. People who can challenge what has gone before can provide different perspectives and solutions.” 02. Be adaptable ‘What should I be learning now?’ seems to be a question we ask ourselves with increasing frequency. Which piece of software, which programming language, which APIs? While we can’t know now what we’ll need to know in 20, or even 10, years’ time, Morris recommends staying informed, and dabbling in new platforms, trends and technologies (Udemy offers great free courses on all sorts of topics and tech to get you started). But ultimately, what’s more important is cultivating a progressive outlook on the world. “What you need is the urge to learn on the go, and to be prepared to adapt to whatever the situation calls for,” says Morris. Even for those in their dream job, not every project that lands in your lap is going to give you goosebumps, which is why Morris stresses the importance of side hustles and passion projects. “There’s a real need for mavericks and ‘entrepreneurs’ within agencies,” she says. Morris gives Ross Norman – New Blood Academy class of 2016 attendee, Pencil winner, and Kingston student – as an example of someone who has such adaptability and passion. He recently launched Peep, a publication about celebrating side projects and creative play. “Every project in Peep has play, freedom and experimentation at its core,” she says. 03. Question your motive Make choices for the right reasonsAs well as questioning what you’re doing to prepare yourself for the future, Lindsay also thinks you should be asking why you’re doing it. “The future of the planet is still largely dependent on business seeking to grow in a sustainable way – if indeed growth is the answer.” Doing good will increasingly become good business, he adds, but it’s important to do this authentically and honestly. “This movement is not about hijacking issues for dubious ends or playing with people’s hopes and fears,” warns Lindsay. “If you’re going to change how business is done, you’ll need creative courage, and be willing to take risks.” Lindsay admits that taking such risks is not easy. “We’re not going rose-tinted specs here,” he says. “There are real challenges on the way to making it. There’s the risk of anonymity and the challenge of cutting through the competition for your talent to shine. “There’s trying to move from serial placements to a permanent role, or even landing that placement in the first place. And then there’s balancing the need to gain experience and make connections with the need to pay your bills.” 04. Put yourself out there Tom Watkins’ When I’m a Dad book features 10 imaginings of life as a parent and won a Black Pencil in 2015But D&AD New Blood can help. It has free events, tools and resources to give everyone industry-standard insight, and offers a platform to identify and spotlight creative talent, help people rise to the top, open doors, and start conversations. You can’t just rely on D&AD, though. Morris emphasises the importance of learning from your own mistakes. “It’s up to you to continue that conversation, put yourself out there, meet people, make connections, take advice to avoid some pitfalls, and learn the hard way on others.” It’s up to you to put yourself out there, meet people, make connections, take advice to avoid some pitfalls, and learn the hard way on others Getting out there and making stuff for real will always get you noticed over pictures on a page. And you’ll learn more, too. “It’s one thing to conjure up a beautiful concept under lab conditions,” says Morris, “but taking it out into the messy real world and solving problems and patching things up until it works will teach you a load of skills you’d never get in the classroom.” We see this in the work that wins, too. Take Tom Watkins’ 2015 New Blood Black Pencil winner, When I’m a Dad. The touching and original approach to the subject matter took it a long way, but the fact that Watkins put the project out there by starting a conversation online was perfect proof of concept, and showed that his piece had the power to engage outside the jury room. The world of commercial creativity is already a rapidly changing beast, and will undergo seismic shifts in the years to come as new technologies become commonplace and consumer expectations and behaviours adjust – and D&AD will continue to celebrate, stimulate and evolve with the best of this new world. “It will always be key to celebrate and reflect the best of the industry as it is,” says Morris, “but with programmes like New Blood and Impact, D&AD will continue to set out a vision for and champion the best of the industry as it should be, rather than limiting ambition and representation to the industry as it is.” 05. Adjust your priorities D&AD’s headquarters in London are full of lovely peopleFinally, you can shape your future with your priorities: by putting humans before companies; choosing fun over money; being approachable rather than formal; and innovating rather than always sticking to the norm. The company you work for is just a building full of people. So think hard about your interactions. Are you nice to people because you worry about upsetting them? Do you know them so well that your honesty can mutate into rudeness? Do you trust each other enough to be unselfconscious and have genuinely novel ideas? Treat fun as a valid source of measurement, alongside all the other metrics you use to judge the success of your company’s culture. Make sure you give yourself the time and space to be playful. It doesn’t matter if you’re a junior designer or an ECD – you should treat everyone the same. Marketing jargon needs to go. Layers of sign-off on every piece of work need to go. Trust needs to be handed out and fuck ups need to be expected. This is better than the alternative where everyone is afraid and just looks after themselves. Seek out the weird, and the cutting-edge. Not all of it will find its way into a project, but resist the urge to self-censor or give people what you think they want. Question everything. If people tell you: ‘This is the way to do it because that’s how it has always been done,’ question it. Sometimes a small tweak or even a complete deviation will result in something better. This article was originally published in Computer Arts issue 269. Buy it here and subscribe here. Related articles: How to get into design without a degree Back to school: essential design kit for the new term The designer’s guide to Brexit View the full article

Calibrating your monitor for your digital design work is a no-brainer. Not only will the colours and blacks in your Photoshop works, Illustrator creations and other designs be true, it'll be better for your eyes, too. After all, people see colours very differently and displays differ as well. Get Adobe Creative CloudOnce you've got a great monitor (see our buying guide to the best monitors for designers for help choosing one), there are now plenty of options for calibration including software downloads, online tools and the built-in calibration tools within Windows and macOS. But nothing offers the accuracy and continuity of a hardware calibrator. A hardware calibration tool need not break the bank, so we've rounded up the five best options for you below. As well as making laptop screens and desktop monitors just right, the Spyder5ELITE provides a lot more in terms of setup but only takes around five minutes to calibrate (less for subsequent calibrations). There's a simple wizard-based mode but also an expert mode, too. There are 'unlimited' calibration settings plus grey-balancing. You can calibrate all of your displays to a single target, while there's room light monitoring to determine the optimal monitor brightness. You're able to see 'before and after' results using your own images. This incredible package comes with a heap of options, but then you do pay for it. You're able to use your profile across multiple displays (either on the same machine or network) as well as assess the ambient light in your workspace to set your monitor up for best results. A technology called Flare Correct will measure and adjust your display profile for reduced contrast ratios caused by glare on your screen. Video colour standards are also incorporated, so video editors can set up their display for best results, too. The X-Rite i1 Display PRO is a little expensive, so perhaps look out for discounts such as the upcoming Black Friday deals. This is a really simple route to colour accuracy and is best for hobbyists, students and prosumers rather than pro designers. It's an easy four-step process with just two settings and you can see a 'before and after' view on preset images. The software is available via a download link provided with the box. Professional creatives will probably be looking for more, though. The X-Rite ColorMunki Smile features some of the best monitor calibrator software anywhere. All you need to do is start it up, place the ColorMunki Smile on your monitor and click 'go'. Quick and easy is the name of the game – just plug the device into your computer's USB port. As with the other contenders here you'll be able to see the before and after results to check out the level of improvement. This awesome tool enables professional designers – or indeed anybody who works with colour – to calibrate LCD and laptop displays, RGB and CMYK printers, and digital projectors. You can create and name unlimited custom colour palettes using the included software, while you can automatically synchronise your palettes to Adobe Photoshop and InDesign in addition to QuarkXpress. You're also able to export them to other photo and design applications. Related articles: The best monitors for designers 2017 10 colour management terms designers need to know 95 top Photoshop tutorials View the full article

Getting your first junior designer role is an exciting time; you've aced your design job interview and got a foot on the ladder now, and surely the only way is up. Careful, though; you don't want to skewer your career prospects just as you're getting started. For a much smoother route to design success, here are five common mistakes that you really want to avoid making. 01. Getting possessive There's no need to get too possessive"We always tell people that we don't want precious designers," says Ben Jory, founder and creative director at Jory & Co. "We don't want to hire people who will say: 'This is my idea and I want to take ownership of it.' There's nothing worse than a precious designer." When you work for a studio, it's not just your idea – it's everyone's, to work on together. 02. Tuning out Make sure you're listening [Photo by Jerry Kiesewetter on Unsplash] "It's hard in a busy studio if you brief someone and they just haven't listened to what you've said," says Design Culture director Kristen Streten. "It's incredibly frustrating as a manager at any point along the line if you're not taking notes, not listening to briefs and not asking questions." However obvious a question might seem, it's better to check than to do a task wrong, she notes. 03. Hiding mistakes Everyone makes mistakes; just own up and get it fixed when you make one tooSloppy work doesn't look good to your employers or your client. It can be hard to remember this when you're working under pressure, but meeting a deadline doesn't mean quality goes out the window. However, everyone's human. If you do make a mistake you can't fix, tell someone about it straight away so it can be fixed in good time. Chances are they'll appreciate it. 04. Losing heart Every task is a learning opportunity"I remember finding it difficult that I wasn't being given more responsibility. I was really ready to go," Streten says, recalling the beginning of her career. "You feel so capable and so energised – but you do have to understand that we've all been there, we've all been junior in a company and had to do these tasks. You'll be amazed by what you learn while you're doing them." 05. Over sharing Count to 10 before you share a work rant online [Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash] Be very careful what you post online. It's one thing to retweet the studio's latest project, but quite another to say anything that could breach confidentiality, offend clients or just make you look bad. Always treat social media like a postcard that travels via your manager's desk – assume they can read everything on it, along with everyone else. This article originally appeared in Computer Arts issue 255. Subscribe here. Related articles: 20 tips for design interview success How to transform a design internship into a job How do you judge your success as a designer? View the full article

There is no skill more in demand right now than the ability to code. Whether you're looking to launch a career as a web developer or just want to add a new ability to your resume that may put you in line for new opportunities, you can pick up the skills you need to take part in the new wave of development with the help of the Learn to Code 2017 Bundle, on sale now for a price you choose! The Learn to Code Bundle is packed with courses for people of all skill levels that will give you the know-how you need to be a talented developer with the talent to succeed. You'll find dozens of hours of actionable content in these 10 professionally-caught courses on the most important programming languages from Python to Ruby on Rails to Java. Add new skills to your toolbox so you can create great works online for fun or get a promotion and take home more money on your paycheck. The Learn to Code 2017 Bundle usually retails for $1,573. Right now, you can pick the price you pay for it. Beat the average to unlock it all or get on the leaderboard. The price is up to you but you can't go wrong no matter what you pay, so grab it today! About Creative Bloq deals This great deal comes courtesy of the Creative Bloq Deals store – a creative marketplace that's dedicated to ensuring you save money on the items that improve your design life. We all like a special offer or two, particularly with creative tools and design assets often being eye-wateringly expensive. That's why the Creative Bloq Deals store is committed to bringing you useful deals, freebies and giveaways on design assets (logos, templates, icons, fonts, vectors and more), tutorials, e-learning, inspirational items, hardware and more. Every day of the working week we feature a new offer, freebie or contest – if you miss one, you can easily find past deals posts on the Deals Staff author page or Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at:deals@creativebloq.com Related articles: Web animation: No code required 12 must-have code testing tools 16 top online coding courses View the full article

If you're a budding designer eager to get your work seen by some of the biggest names in the creative industry, the D&AD New Blood Awards 2018 offer the perfect opportunity. Open to young people aged between 18 and 24, plus students and recent graduates of any age, the New Blood Awards are an invaluable introduction to the reality of working in the creative industry. And with today's launch of the 17 new creative briefs for the 2018 awards, there's no better time to try and win a highly coveted D&AD Pencil. 8 big portfolio trends for 2017This year, the briefs have been set by some familiar faces like the BBC, John Lewis, Nationwide and Pearson. There are also some new partners, including Adidas, Bacardi, JCDecaux and Microsoft. Also returning is Hasbro. The briefs are specially crafted by the partners to push the next creative generation. They want young designers to hone and apply their skills to a wide range of business challenges and social issues. This year, the briefs ask young designers to rethink the medium of paper by using it to create a new tactile experience; shake up an in-store experience for future shoppers; use graphic design to champion a cause; and empower older generations through informal learning – amongst others. This could be you!This year also see the launch of the first New Blood Side Hustle, run in partnership with Adobe. More than just a creative brief, the New Blood Side Hustle invites creatives to show off their entrepreneurial spirit. So if you've been spending your spare time working away on an innovation, startup or app, this is the place to show it off. Winners will scoop up a share of prize money, as well as gaining access to D&AD training courses relevant to their field, and the opportunity to be mentored by a D&AD judge. Their work will also be promoted on the D&AD website and in the 2018 Annual. Plenty of those shaping the industry now got their break thanks to bagging a New Blood Pencil Paul Drake For emerging talent, the New Blood Award briefs are an ideal way to understand the pitch process and the demands they can expect to face from clients. The hard work is worth it, as winning could kick-start your career. D&AD Foundation Director Paul Drake comments: “The New Blood Awards are a unique opportunity for emerging creatives to cut their teeth on real projects with some of the world’s leading brands. "They challenge entrants to work on complex themes and develop them into great ideas, beautifully executed. And winning gets you noticed. Plenty of those shaping the industry now got their break thanks to bagging a New Blood Pencil.” To view all of the 2018 briefs, be sure to visit the New Blood Awards site. Entrants have until 5pm GMT, 20 March 2018 to submit their work. Winning work will be selected by a panel of judges and awarded either a Wood, Graphite, Yellow, White or Black Pencil. Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in early July 2018 in London. Good luck! Related articles: 5 big branding mistakes to avoid 7 pro tips for staying competitive as an artist Is it better to be a competitive or collaborative designer? View the full article

When it comes to web development, it is pretty easy to assume that JavaScript is top dog. But, obviously it's not that simple. Imagine turning up for an interview and saying 'I'm great at JavaScript'. We think they might want to know a little more than that. JavaScript is the basis for thousands of different libraries and is included in endless frameworks. There's a few that spring immediately to mind, such as React and Angular. But web development is not just about JavaScript either – there are hundreds of libraries that a developer could have in their arsenal, but you cannot learn them all, so it's very much a matter of choosing the right ones to ensure that you get the job you want. And, if the libraries and tools that populate your dev arsenal are in demand, you can make a little more money than expected. Skill Up 2017 Global tech publisher Packt recently released Skill Up 2017, its developer skills and salary report. In a nutshell, the report takes a look at the tools developers are using, who's getting paid the big bucks, and some of the emerging trends that web developers should be on the lookout for. The report is based on replies from over 4,700 respondents from across the globe. In its executive summary it revealed that full-stack development is dominating as a technical role across industries; 60 per cent of respondents have either a 'reasonable amount of choice' or a 'significant amount of choice' over the tools they use at work; developers need to work in an environment they love – IDEs are among the most loved tools; 47.57 per cent of respondents say their manager has less technical knowledge than they do; there's a container revolution happening – Docker is being learned across today's tech workforce; and Python remains consistently popular across job roles. The big earners by role were big data engineers, security engineers and information architects Looking further into the report, what else did we learn? As well as being a global survey – which included respondents from the US, UK, Brazil, Australia and India – it revealed the average salaries of developers and tech professionals. As you might expect, it's the US that comes out on top. They earned an average of £104,000, compared with Europe that sat at £75,000, while North Asia came in at around £55,000. To put this into some kind of perspective, it wasn't web developers that topped the list. The big earners by role were big data engineers, security engineers and information architects. But, we all know web developers aren't in just for the money; they are in it for the love. Docker, Angular and React More importantly, what tools were popular? In a straight top tools chart (including all job roles), it was Python that was happily sitting at number one. Elsewhere in the top ten were Git, Java and Docker, with JavaScript coming in at number 11. Other notable tools included React, Jenkins, Sublime Text and PHP. Drilling down by role revealed differing results. For web developers, Git was number one; for mobile developers, Xcode was top choice. But, if you are looking to boost your salary above the average, there are certain tools that can help you achieve this. By role, web developers needed to know Fiddler and Bootstrap. But, as we have mentioned, it's not all about the money. So, what tools are web developers and tech pros planning to learn? Docker, Python, Angular and Jenkins. For web developers specifically, it was Docker, Angular and React. We have only skimmed the surface here. Get your hands on the full report and find out how you can start making the big bucks and discover the tools and skills that people want. This article originally appeared in Web Designer issue 265. Buy it here. Related articles: The 5 biggest web design trends of 2017 so far Dive into Python with this programming bundle Get your start as a web developer with this course View the full article

A joint Technical Alert, TA17–293A, describing the activities of a Russian APT may contain signatures and rules likely to trigger false positives in some security systems. View the full article

A modern smartphone is of course a staple of the designer – a large screen can help you improve productivity on the go, and a fantastic camera can be used to shoot textures, images for comps and pitches, and just random inspiration you see on your travels (all in high-quality). 4K video is now a standard on smartphones as well, meaning pro-quality video doesn’t need a pro-quality setup. So with these things – and more – in mind, let’s take a look at the best smartphones for designers and creative professionals on the market today. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is all about the screenSamsung has quite a lot to prove with the Galaxy S8, its new flagship smartphone. After the debacle that was the Note 7, with its tendency to explode in people’s pockets, the company needs to win back the trust of consumers everywhere. And with the brand new Galaxy S8 it could just do that. There are two models – the S8 and S8+, and it’s the latter we’re interested in here at Creative Bloq. This is a monster of a smartphone – in every sense. Both S8 and S8+ models feature an ‘infinite display’ that curves around the edge of the phone (like the S7 Edge) but the S8+ features a huge 6.2-inch screen with a resolution of 2960x1440 pixels. The camera pretty much remains the same as the excellent S7: a 12-megapixel sensor. We’re a little disappointed that there’s no dual camera or tech as found in Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium, if we’re honest. There’s no home button either. This phone is ALL screen. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ will launch with Bixby – a new virtual assistant similar to Siri (but Google Assistant is on the S8 as well). There’s also face unlock, IRIS unlock and a fingerprint sensor. But this smartphone is all about the screen. It looks incredible. In terms of aesthetics, there isn’t a more beautiful phone available. And because of the lack of bezel, you get a larger screen in a smaller form factor. The Galaxy S8 can also become a desktop PC through the DeX dock. You may not want to do this, but hey, you can! It launches on 28 April. The big draw of the Pixel XL 2 is its cameraThe Pixel 2 XL (and the smaller Pixel 2) are this year's followups to Google's own-brand smartphones – tying a native, non-skinned or tweaked version of Android O with Google hardware that should run its OS in the best possible way. And it’s a fact: the native version of Android O running on the Pixel 2 XL is fast. So fast. Everything about the Pixel 2 works in double-quick time, from the fingerprint sensor unlocking to the homescreen to the camera launching. You’re never waiting for anything, and that’s a huge plus. Oh, and you also get Google Assistant – a kind of supercharged Siri that you can ask contextual questions. The screen on the Pixel 2 XL is 6-inches (a decent amount larger than last year's model), with a resolution of 1440x2560 pixels, and it’s bright and sharp. But for a 6-inch phone it feels pretty compact thanks to its small bezel (it’s not like the S8’s edge-to-edge screen by any means, but it’s certainly more compact than the iPhone). One of the real winning features of the Pixel 2 XL is the camera. Sure, it doesn’t have a dual-camera setup like the Huawei P10 Plus, but its 12.2-megapixel offering produces shots of the highest quality; details are sharp and colours natural. And it’ll shoot video in 4K. One word on the design. On the back of the Pixel 2 XL is a glass panel (what is it with smartphone manufacturers making EVERYTHING out of glass?). You may want to pick up a case – the official Google ones are the least intrusive. But add this £30 case to the cost of the phone outright and it soon becomes very expensive (and like the Huawei P10 Plus, it’s only splash-proof). Annoyingly, Google has also followed Apple's lead by dropping the 3.5mm headphone port, so you'll need an adaptor if you want to plug in your wired headphones. If you're after something jazzier, Huawei also offers the p10 Plus in Pantone colour of the year ‘Greenery’Huawei (pronounced Hu-Wah-Wey if you’re interested) has really upped its game recently with its range of Android-powered smartphones. And the P10 Plus is its latest, combining a huge 5.5-inch QHD screen with a dual Leica camera setup. The latter is very interesting – there’s two cameras and sensors here, one for monochrome shots and one for colour. Just flick between them using the camera software. The monochrome sensor is 20-megapixels; the regular camera 12-megapixels. And the custom camera app really is excellent, giving you access to such features as a wide aperture mode. There’s enough in the camera alone to make this phone extremely appealing to creative professionals. Oh, and it’ll also shoot in 4K. One other interesting thing is that Huawei has partnered with Pantone to bring the P10 Plus in ‘Greenery’ – Pantone’s colour of the year. To be fair, you may want to stick with black (Graphite Black) or silver (what Huawei call Mystic Silver – oooh, mystical silver). And this is one of the slimmest ‘big’ smartphones out there. Software-wise, the Huawei P10 Plus runs a modified version of Android N called (rather snappily) EMUI. When you compare it to say, Google Pixel XL and the native experience on offer there, it’s nowhere near as slick. That said, it’s better than previous versions – and reinstates the app drawer so you don’t have to have all of your app icons across multiple screens. The camera may convince you to try this out – and we wouldn’t blame you. But bear in mind you don’t get the waterproofing of the iPhone 7 or Galaxy S8 (so don’t spill coffee on it or drop it in a puddle). And it costs £680, which is right up there with premium phones. Another great iPhone from AppleWhat can we say about the iPhone that you probably don't already know? Apple's smartphones have revolutionised the mobile industry, though for the past few years it feels like Apple has played it a little safe. So, iPhone 8 Plus looks like the iPhone 7 Plus, which looks like the 6S Plus, which looks like the 6 Plus. If you love the look and feel of existing iPhones, then 2017's updated model will definitely be for you. Whilst the screen remains pretty much the same as the iPhone 7 Plus (a meagre 1080p affair compared to some lesser-priced Android devices), the camera on the 8 Plus is its real selling point. It’s a dual-camera affair, but unlike Huawei and Leica’s offerings, the iPhone 8 Plus camera is about zoom – optical zoom. One lens is a wide-angle, one a telephoto. This means you can zoom anywhere from 1x to 2x using pure optical zoom, which obviously yields better results with less noise and artefacts. You can also use the digital zoom up to 10x. Optical image stabilisation is another great feature. It’s one of the best cameras out there. The iPhone 8 Plus is a little heavier than the majority of phones this size (the Pixel 2 XL feels very light in comparison) and feels bigger due to its fatter bezel – one-handed operation can be a bit of a struggle (unless you’re a goalkeeper). But build quality is better than anything out there (maybe excluding the Galaxy S8), and features such as 3D Touch and Touch ID with Apple Pay make it a real winner. And of course the depth and breadth of apps is always a swaying point. It ain’t cheap at £949 for the top model... you could almost get a MacBook for that! Sony is aiming to revolutionise camera tech with the addition of Motion EyeThe XZ Premium is Sony's latest flagship handset, and while the 4K screen seems like the headline feature, it's the camera that really impresses. Sony has a rich heritage in camera tech and it’s looking to rewrite the rulebook with the XZ Premium, in the form of Motion Eye. Yes, it’s all a bit ‘marketing hyperbole’, but Motion Eye tech looks amazing for those regularly shooting on their smartphones. For one, it features super-slow motion video – recording at 960 frames per second (yes, 960!). Sony says this is four times slower than other smartphones. Next, there’s predictive capture, which basically starts buffering your shot a second before the shutter is pressed – and then gives you four images to pick from. Its 19-megapixel sensor also has intelligent exposure controls to automatically adjust light levels (there’s also manual focus controls), and 5-axis stabilisation should make for steady 4K videos. The other big selling point – potentially – is that the XZ Premium is the first smartphone to have a 4K HDR display (before the Galaxy S8 at least, even though the Galaxy will go on sale before). It’s an all-Gorilla Glass affair so should be pretty robust, and it’s a real stunner with ergonomic rounded edges. With high-res audio built in it’ll sound as good as it looks. Add-ons can transform this into a top cameraIn terms of innovation, the Moto Z could be our favourite phone out there at the moment. Why? Because of the different modules you can buy to extend the device. It kind of takes what was so cool about the LG G5 and expands on it, making your smartphone a real jack-of-all-trades. Moto Mods, as they’re known, clip onto the back of the Moto Z using strong magnets. Our favourite has to be the Hasselblad True Zoom Mod, which essentially turns your smartphone into a high-quality camera with 10x optical zoom. Yes, it’ll cost you an extra £199, but it shoots in RAW and gives you an optical zoom level that no other smartphone has. Then there’s the Insta-Share Projector, turning your smartphone into a portable projector capable of projecting at sizes up to 70 inches, meaning you can project your ideas and even short films onto any flat surface on the fly. Again, it’s not cheap at £250, but is a real innovation. And there’s a JBL speaker and an Incipio battery pack. Whilst it isn’t by any means the most cutting-edge of smartphones on its own, by adding Moto Mods you can transform it into a top camera, mobile projector or portable speaker in an instant. And that’s what’s so impressive. Like this? Read these... The best new tech for designers to drop in 2017 Apple patent transforms iPhone into a MacBook The 30 best iPhone apps for designers View the full article

Graduating from design school and trying to get your first job can be one of the most frustrating times in your career. You need a design portfolio to get a job, but you haven't had a full-time design job before, so what are you going to put in it? Worry not. There are quite a few different things you can do to help bulk out your portfolio – and not all of them involve designing for free. These tips don't just apply to recent graduates, either – if ever you find that your portfolio could do with a refresh but you're not getting to right client projects to do so, come back to these ideas and give one a go. 01. Work on your own brand Your personal brand is your first chance to make an impressionIt's not just a good portfolio that will impress potential clients: how you present yourself to clients is, in itself, an opportunity to provide them with a sample of your work. Having a solid brand identity for yourself as a freelance designer will also help you seem much more professional. So, why not design yourself a logo, some business cards, and a slick website to showcase your other work. Take the advice of experienced graphic designers and spend 75 per cent of the time you work on client work again on developing your own company image. 02. Help a local business Look close to home for your first clientsWhether it's a local charity, a company belonging to a friend or family member, or just a place where you really enjoy the service – you can always make the first move and volunteer your services. If you've noticed that your favourite café's menu could be better, why not suggest that to the owners? If you've chosen not to work pro bono, then make sure you charge for your work. 03. Create your dream project Set your own brief tailored to the kind of work you want to doClients want to see how well you are able to work to a brief and design according to their specific needs. However, there's no rule to say that your portfolio has to be filled with real life projects. If you don't have any examples to show off your best skills, why not make up your own brief? The advantage of these kinds of projects is that you can imagine your perfect job and picture your ideal client. What type of design work would they need? This way, you are making your portfolio more attractive to the kinds of people that you actually want to work with, not just the kinds of people you end up working with. Just make sure you flag up that it's a personal project on your portfolio site. 04. Enter design competitions Awards give you recognised accredationThird party recommendations are always more convincing than self-promotion. By winning a competition, you'd be proving that you can out-do several other designers in front of a panel of impartial judges – possibly the best third party recommendation you could hope to receive. There are a whole host of recognised accreditations out there that would look as good on your CV as paid work, if not better. In fact, the Adobe Design Achievement Awards were created specifically to help students and recent graduates launch their careers. Whatever you do, make sure you retain copyright of anything you submit. Which leads us onto our final tip… 05. Avoid online design marketplaces Avoid spec work – it's bad for you and for the wider industryThese sites are the cause of substantial debate within the design industry. Online design marketplaces, such as 99designs and Crowdspring, enable employers to post briefs for professional designers to ‘compete' for. Yes, that means that new designers have as much chance as experienced designers of being picked for the job. But it also means you have to put in a lot of time and resource into a design, and there's no guarantee that the employer will like your concept the most. This is spec work and, while it's rife in the creative industry, can you imagine asking a plumber to work for free in the hopes of being paid? You wouldn't eat at different restaurants and only pay at the best one. In the same way, you should never work for free (unless it's pro bono work). Doing so is not only bad for you, it's harmful to the wider industry too. Read more: How to craft a standout portfolio 10 tips for a killer design portfolio 10 brilliant image-led portfolio sites for 2017 View the full article

We've looked at some useful painting techniques over the years here on Creative Bloq, but few compare to the impressive brushwork of Japanese artist Keisuke Teshima, otherwise known as onestrokedragon. You can get a taste of Teshima's work above. As you can see, he specialises in dragons that appear to writhe across the page. Every dragon he paints has a body made up of layer upon layer of scales that look like they've taken an age to paint. Not so. How to paint scalesThanks to a Japanese painting technique called Hitofude Ryuu, Teshima is able to create the intricate details of a dragon quickly and without taking his brush off the page. Hitofude Ryuu translates to 'dragon with one stroke' and you can watch the mesmerising art technique in action in the video below. Impressive, eh? The painting technique might be quick, but we can't help but imagine how long it takes artists like Teshima to master it. In the video you can see how steadily staggered brushstrokes create the impression of scales. The same technique is also used to realise the dragon's whiskers, and it's there that you get a better look at how Teshima's hands carefully pause just for a moment as he drags his brush across the page. When it comes to the body of the dragon though, Teshima's technique is so smooth that it's difficult to spot how he creates the scale effect. The paint just seems to emerge from his Sumi brush in slabs as if by magic. To give his dragons a sense of movement, Teshima delicately coils their bodies without taking his brush off the page or losing momentum. The way the colours are loaded onto the brush and the expert amount of pressure exerted on the page help to give the body a sense of shape. Rounding off the dragon is the tail, which sees the brush marks ending with a long sweep. If like us you've been mesmerised by this video and you want to have a go at Hitofude Ryuu yourself, just remember that you need a Sumi brush, a steady hand, and years of practice. Otherwise, you might create something like this Twitter user's valiant effort: [Via Business Insider UK, @Timelapsevids] Related articles: How to paint fantasy beasts 14 fantasy artists to follow on Instagram 10 sci-fi and fantasy art painting tips View the full article

Fantasy portraiture is my favourite subject. Bringing an original character to life is exciting, but can be difficult to achieve. To avoid mistakes and save time I try to follow a few rules. But they're really just guidelines, so feel free to adapt, change and test other techniques that might better suit your painting process. There's more to portraits than knowing how to draw a face. It's worth spending time and effort trying to understand how a face 'works', such as under a particular lighting setup. Such a skill won't be grasped overnight. The most important thing to bear in mind is to take your time. This is the best advice I can give, because nothing good comes from rushing a painting. Take your time – nothing good comes from rushing a painting. Melanie Delon The main challenge in a portrait painting is to make the character stand out. Usually there's no surrounding decor in the environment to help you achieve this goal, and a finished, polished portrait can often end up looking flat and boring. Thankfully, there are several simple and effective ways to achieve a striking portrait. 01. Plan with preparatory sketches Rough sketches will get your portrait headed in the right directionBefore starting an illustration, I always do some quick pencil drawings to lay down my ideas. This helps me to see more clearly what I want to do and express, and be more confident about the direction I want to take. I use these sketches to build the composition, reworking them slightly in Photoshop CC if necessary. Usually I like to keep them rough, because this gives me more freedom during the colouring process. I feel restricted by perfectly clean line-art. 02. Get the proportions right Practise getting your facial proportions rightIt's important to be aware of the proportions of a human face. Of course, they're only guides – everyone has a different face shape that doesn't necessarily meet the beauty standard – but it's essential to know these rules, if you're going to play by them and break them. I recommend practising with facial proportions until it almost becomes instinctual to apply them to a portrait piece. I always start with a basic oval and then slowly add the facial features to build up the character's face. 03. Avoid pure black and white Skin consists of a multitude of coloursUsually the biggest mistake in a portrait painting is the skin's colour: it's never either beige or black. Skin comprises a multitude of colours, from pale blue around the eye, to pink, to hints of yellow for the mouth's corners. I start painting with very few colours, and progressively add more hues. I save my colour palette in a corner of the illustration so it's always on hand. So I don't end up with a muddy look, I avoid using pure black or white. Instead, I increase the saturation to the colour I using for the shadows. 04. Develop a dynamic composition Composition and placement can make things more dynamicThe composition and placement of the character in the illustration is essential for introducing dynamism to the painting. I always try to imply a slight torso movement, which avoids a straight and boring posture. Placing the character's face in the centre is a classic approach and works well, but I also like to nudge the character towards a corner of the image to add a little originality, and free up space in the scene. I find that slightly tilting the character's head helps to add visual interest and life to an image. 05. Work the background A relatively plain background keeps the focus on the characterThe background can also help give more impact to the portrait. I don't like to overload it with details, preferring instead to leave it relatively plain to avoid any unnecessary visual distractions. I usually add subtle texture and a gradient to avoid a flat, lifeless look. An alternative is to add blurred elements, such as a forest or a building, to give the character context and hint at their story. 06. Introduce realistic details Veins and beauty spots can add realismSmall details such as veins or beauty dots won't be immediately apparent, but will give the last touches of texture and realism to portraits. These can also tell a story: for example, exposed veins can be useful for depicting a vampire or a person who's ill. I generally use the same brush to create these details: a very fine brush that allows for precise work. I slightly blur the brushstrokes' edges to unify and soften the details. 07. Emphasise key facial features Concentrate on detailing the areas you want to draw attention toIt's easy to get lost in the details, even in an intimate portrait piece. To avoid this and save time I don't detail the entire illustration, instead only working up the areas that I want to draw attention to. For a portrait the most obvious area is the eyes, but depending on the lighting and the story I want to tell I can add a second focal point, usually a key costume element. 08. Maintain eye contact Eye contact will always grab the viewer's attentionEven in the busiest of compositions, a face will always catch the viewer's attention. And to make the face even more powerful and striking, ensuring strong eye contact remains the most effective trick. The viewer is instantly connected with the character. It's an effect that I use a lot in my portraits… perhaps a little too much! But I also love to play with more subtle glances, which are less direct and help to develop a sense of mystery, raising questions in the viewer's mind. Next page: More top portrait painting tips 09. Give lips texture Dots of bright light can bring lips to lifeLips are an important facial feature. They can draw attention as much as the eyes do, and help the character to express emotion. To get them right it's just a matter of texture. Lips aren't a flat, plain element: I paint the little wrinkles with a very thin brush, which gives them texture and a lot of volume. Indeed, volume is the key to bring life to the lips, so I always add some intense dots of light to make them more realistic and attract even more attention. 10. Add new focal points to profile portraits Emphasise details in profile, to make up for the lack of eye contactDeveloping a character's profile is tricky because there's no eye contact to play with and only half of the face to show. I use light and contrast to compensate for the lack of interaction with the character, and enhance the costume design to hold the viewer's attention. Here, the figure's hair does almost everything: it defines her head shape and contrasts well with the bright, empty background. 11. Play with light and saturation in the eyes Use light and saturation to help eyes stand outThe eyes are usually the main part of a portrait, and are my favourite element. They can look sad, sparkling, mysterious or dangerous… and done well, can bring any character to life. I like to give them a lot of intensity with unusual colours such as purple or yellow. The trick to make them stand out is to play with the light and saturation. I use a precise brush to create some colours variations in the eye and finish it a bright dot of light that will give volume to the eyeball. 12. Tell a story There are plenty of ways to introduce hints of a storyA portrait leaves very little space to tell a story, so the general style of the character is important and can give a lot of indications and information about their life. I try to pay special care to their clothing, even if the viewer can only see a small part of it. I also spend time on their hair and details like a crown, to give the maximum amount of visual information. Their story can also be told by elements on the skin, like a tattoo, a scar or tribal markings. 13. Explore interesting lighting Get your lighting right and you'll add atmosphere to your workThe light is crucial in a portrait. If you get this right, it adds to the atmosphere of the piece, and brings life and volume to the face. I always start a portrait with neutral mid-tones and gradually add shadows and light. I love to accentuate the light in a chiaroscuro style; I think it brings a classic feeling to my fantasy theme. However, I keep my shadows very soft, and my gradients are usually very smoothed, because the face is made of curves and not sharp angles. 14. Add flaws to your skin Flawless skin looks fake; work in some blemishes The skin is obviously an important element in a portrait painting, and a common mistake is to make it look flawless. It's relatively simple to paint clean, soft-looking skin, but if you're not careful your character will end up looking like a plastic doll, and besides, nobody has perfect skin. To avoid this, I start with a textured base and use a soft brush with a little grain texture to recreate the skin's irregularities. I also add some dots of light to create pores, particularly on the nose and around the eyes. 15. Play with contrast Contrast helps to draw your character out from the backgroundAnother trick that works very well is to add contrast to the composition. I achieve this by adjusting the lighting, playing with complementary colours, or using warm and cold hues. The trick is to separate the character from the background. My favourite approach is to use a very dark background and an unusual light source to illuminate the character. The light captures the viewer's initial attention, who then moves on to my character portrait. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX issue 138; buy it here! Read more: How to paint an atmospheric portrait in Photoshop 10 digital artists you need to know about How to use digital tools to create a hand-drawn look View the full article

Houdini's strong point has always been its procedural nature. With a few nodes and a small set of expressions, you can create complex and naturalistic results – models and scenes that would take forever to create in traditional ways. For a long time Houdini has been the backbone of many large-scale productions in the visual effects industry. However, because of its procedural approach, it's often claimed to be too difficult to learn. While this might have been true a few years back, things have changed. With more accessible licensing schemes and a complete revamp of Houdini's interface, it continues to open up to small studios, artists and enthusiasts. Coming from other packages, it's still is a very different way of thinking, though. 30 free 3D modelsIn this tutorial we will give an overview of the program. We will start off with basic modelling techniques for leaves and grass. We will cover sampling VDB volumes to distribute plant growth and eventually use VEX code and wrangle nodes to generate geometry on the fly. We're going to see if what everyone says about Houdini is true: once you go procedural, you will never look back! Download the files for this tutorial. 01. Get organised Make life easier for your future self by giving your shapes meaningful namesStart with a model of a ruin you want to cover in foliage. Make sure you name your shapes in a meaningful way. This allows easy grouping of the geometry for different purposes later. Split it up into walls, planks, bricks, windows and glass. Houdini alembic import will set a path attribute on import. You can then easily use a split or blast node to select the pieces you want. 02. Create the leaves Make your leaves single-sided with a low poly countWith the ruin in place, it's time to begin creating individual leaves to use later for instancing. Always work with reference images from nature if you want more realistic results. We need the leaves to be single-sided and of fairly low poly count. Start off by making a curve to resemble the outer leaf shape. Use a remesh node to add some surface tessellation. With a soft transform, slightly lift out the centre at the stem. Also add a colour attribute with different shades of green. 03. Grass strands Put as much variety into your grass strands as you canWe also need individual strands of grass to cover the floor. Again, simple one-sided polygonal strands with varying width are sufficient. Generally speaking, more variation is always better. But even with just five different shapes, you will achieve quite realistic results. As our setup is procedural, more can easily be added later. It's important to make sure all meshes are centred at the origin with the pivot at their foot. This way we can use them as instances straight away. 04. Natural distribution Find a rule that will make your grass grow in a natural-looking wayThere are many ways to decide where grass will grow. Find a rule that resembles a natural distribution. We will make grass grow everywhere on ground that is not covered by the building or rubble. Growth needs to be denser and longer along walls and rocks. Isolate the ground from our geometry and use a remesh node to gain a fairly high level of subdivisions. 05. AttributeTransfer Use white points for the walls and grey for the groundAdd a white point colour to the walls and a grey to the ground. Use AttributeTransfer to map the wall colour onto the ground. Tweak the blend radius on the node to fit around the base of the walls. Turn the walls into a VDB with VDBfromPolygons. In an AttributeWrangle, get the VDB value at each point with the volumesample function. Remove points with a negative value. 06. Prepare attributes With some random settings you'll quickly have some great-looking grassBefore using Copy Stamp, some attributes need preparation. In VEX use a random number to drive a ramp of a random number. This is a visual way to control scale distribution. In the same way, set the colour to a random green. To make the strands point in slightly different directions, change the normal by adding a random offset in X and Z direction. Voila, you grew grass! 07. Climbing plants You'll need to write a solver for climbing plantsFor the climbing plants, we need to write our own solver in VEX to mimic a growth mechanism. It might sound daunting, but we go step by step all the way. Don't forget to also use the Houdini Reference on VEX. To find the root points we go with the same mechanism we used on the grass. Start off with a few points on the ground, close to the wall. 08. Plant forces These are the three forces that govern the plants' growthWe have three forces at work. The first we'll call UP, pointing away from the ground against the gravitational pull. The second is a vector named WANDER, pointing in a random direction along the wall. The third force is called WALL, pointing towards the closest obstacle. This emulates the plant's desire to climb. We will use all three forces on each growth iteration. 09. Grow the seedling Grow the seedling in short segmentsNow comes the time for us to dive into VEX using a point wrangle. In a for loop we grow the seedling in short segments by adding to the variable pos, which has been initialised with the start position. For now, only grow along the UP vector. It's good practice to make use of the ch() and chv() functions, to expose parameters to the interface. You then can easily experiment with the result of the algorithm by interactively changing those values. 10. Natural effects The WANDER force gives your growth a more natural appearanceFor a more natural look, add the WANDER force. On each step calculate a random direction based on a noise function. This random vector adds to the direction the seed gets moved. For better balancing, also introduce two weighting factors to the interface, scaling our forces up or down. The result is vines growing with a lot more variation, but they now penetrate obstacles they meet. To avoid this, the third type of force comes in handy, the WALL direction. 11. Final force Finally, add the WALL forceAdd the last force to the VEX loop by sampling the value and gradient VDB of the ruin. This gives you the distance between point and wall as well as the wall's normal direction. Calculate a force that points towards the wall and add it to the grow direction. Sample the VDB a second time in the new position to check if the point is inside the wall. If so, just push it out along the normal. 12. Soften the change It's easy to fix things if your vines start looking unnaturalThe vines still don't look natural. This is because they can change direction rapidly on each step. Soft blend between the directions of the previous and the current step to smooth that out. You also want to stop growing if the position moves too far off the walls. See if the wall distance you get from the VDB sample exceeds a certain threshold. Just break out of the for loop if it does. 13. Branching behaviour Getting your vines to branch is fairly straightforwardAnother aspect of climbing plants we still have to add – branching. But this is very straightforward to achieve. Tag each growth step with a certain probability to be a branch point. Then run the growth algorithm again on each of those marked points, using the point itself as the root. It's a good idea to tweak the growth parameters on the second pass in order to be more wandering and less upwards, to fill up the areas along the walls. 14. Finish the branches It's time to turn your points into real-looking branchesWe now have created sequences of points resembling branch growth. Make use of the id attribute on the point and create an Add node to turn them into individual curves. A UV Texture set to Rows&Columns will provide UVs along the curve length, which you then ramp along their individual length to an attribute called pscale. A Polywire node turns curves into tubes where you use $PSCALE for thickness. Add a Mountain and a Facet after, to finalise the branches. 15. Instance the leaves For the leaves, follow a similar technique to the one you used for the grassInstancing leaves works a bit like the grass strands earlier. We define a distribution attribute along the curves coming out of the growth algorithm. This is zero at the start of each branch and then 1 at the tip. Use a scatter to place points along the curve based on that attribute. It looks better to vary the pscale. Use a copy stamp to instance the prepared leaves onto those points. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 225; buy it here! Related articles: 10 top Houdini tutorials How to get started in Houdini Make realistic plants in Cinema 4D View the full article

You're reading SaaS Interface Design: Trends, & Best Practices for Designing a SaaS UI, originally posted on Designmodo. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Google+! Designing a SaaS product for the web is no easy task. It requires not just an idea, but a clear plan of how it’ll work and which features you’ll support. This also means a lot of UX planning from the early wireframing to detailed mockups. I’ve put together some common trends I see in SaaS websites and […] View the full article

African woman laughing, by peeterv. Now available for purchase, this image was available for free in the week starting July 17 Looking for free images to use in your designs, without having to pay a single penny in royalties? Then you might be surprised to know that there’s a perfectly legal way to get free photographs, illustrations and videos from leading stock library iStock by Getty Images. iStock by Getty Images is so proud of the high quality photography, illustrations and videos on its site that it regularly gives files away for free, with absolutely no catch. Yes, that’s free photographs, free illustrations and free videos, in high resolution, for you to use whenever you like, without paying a penny. Free photos are updated weekly, and free illustrations and free videos are updated monthly. Bubble fun on the garden by Azman. Now available for purchase, this image was available for free in the week starting September 11 All you have to do is sign up for an iStock account. But don’t worry: that’s totally free, involves no commitment, and you don’t have to give any credit card details. Here’s your step-by-step guide to getting stock files for free. 01. Sign up for a free account It’s easy and free to get an iStock accountThe first step is to sign up for a free account with iStock. Head to the homepage and click on ‘Join’ in the top-right hand corner of the page. 02. Provide an email address and password Provide an email address and choose a password: that’s all the info you need to giveYou’ll be brought to a form where you have to enter an email address and choose a password: nothing more. 03. Find your freebies The links to the free stock files are near the bottom of the homepageScroll down to the part of the homepage that’s titled ‘Join iStock for free stock files every week’. Below that you’ll see three images titled ‘Free photo’, ‘Free illustration’ and ‘Free video clip’. Click on any of these and you will be taken through to the download page. 04. Check the licence There are some special circumstances in which you might need to buy an extended licence, so do check before downloadingEach free image and video comes with a standard agreement, so make sure you read this so you know where and how you can legally use it. In some limited circumstances – if you are printing more than half a million copies of your design, for example – you will need to buy an extended licence, so do check first. 05. Choose your image size You can choose to download the image in a range of sizesNow choose the size of the image you want, depending on your needs, by ticking the appropriate box above the red ‘Free download’ button. The measurements for each option appear below as you click on each box. 06. Download your image Your free image will download directly to your Mac or PCClick on the red button titled ‘Free download’ and then a second or so later, click the green button titled ‘Confirm download’. Your image will automatically download to your Mac or PC. Then check back to the homepage a week later to see the next lot of freebies. 5 freebies you might have missed Free image files from iStock are only available for a week, so if you miss them the first time around, you lose the chance to download them for free. Which means it’s worth coming back every week to grab the latest free files. To give you an idea of what’s on offer, here are five great freebies that you may have missed in the last couple of months… 01. Young scientist Young scientist working in laboratory, by gremlin Now available for purchase, this scientist image was available for free in the week starting July 31. 02. Boy asleep with his dog Boy sleeping with dog, by gollykim Now available for purchase, this image was available for free in the week starting July 24. 03. Under peonies Under peonies, by VikaValter Now available for purchase, this image was available for free in the week starting September 4. 04. Team of surgeons Team of surgeons in operating room at a hospital, by Tempura Now available for purchase, this image was available for free in the week starting August 14. 05. Female carpenter Female Carpenter In Her Workshop, by vitranc Now available for purchase, this image was available for free in the week starting September 18. Special discount for Creative Bloq readers! Along with your weekly free files, iStock also offers you the choice of millions of high-quality images at a very low cost. And to give you an added incentive, we’ve teamed up with iStock by Getty Images to offer Creative Bloq readers 10% off all iStock credits. Just use code ZNKPC46N today at the website to take advantage of this incredible offer! View the full article

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/10/22/office-dde-attack-works-in-outlook-too-heres-what-to-do/ … View the full article