Rss Bot

Cole Henley is probably best known for his Freelance Rates Calculator. You may also know him as technical director for award-winning web design agency Mud, which he co-founded with Matt Powell in 2013. Although he studied archaeology at university, he'd always been interested in the possibilities of the web. “Rather than having this linear narrative, it meant the reader could explore different kinds of stories, ” he enthuses. “This really inspired me.” So he taught himself web design and worked on a number of self-initiated projects, including a social network for archaeologists called Digs Reunited. Before he found his freelance groove, Henley was stuck coding on his own in the basementIt was a few years before he decided to switch to web design full-time, and his first role wasn't quite what he'd hoped for. "I was literally the coder in the basement, coding away with no daylight." To get a bit of human contact, he’d travel to conferences such as dConstruct in Brighton. “When I was there, I’d bump into friends from Edinburgh and have drinks. But it soon started to dawn on us that this was ridiculous: why weren’t we doing this in Edinburgh?” So they formed a small group that held meetups, and later, started to host talks. Out of the basement Through the group, Henley started making contacts, and finally made the leap into the private sector, working as a senior web designer for a web agency, Net Resources Ltd. “It was really full-on, ” he recalls. “It was my first time designing for a client and I really struggled at first. I didn’t have an artistic or design background, and I struggled with the difference between critique and criticism. I took a lot of client feedback personally.” I put the word out on Twitter, Dribbble, Instagram that I was looking for work. And because of the networks I’d built up, I had six weeks of work lined up in under an hour He soon found his stride, but then just two years later, in 2011, he arrived at work only to be told the company had gone into receivership. “And I thought: shit. I had a mortgage, two kids, and I started to panic a lot. I was desperate.” Social media proved his lifeline. “I was using Twitter a lot, ” he says. “So I did a CV, put stuff out on Twitter, Dribbble, Instagram, trying to get the word out that I was looking for work. And because of the networks I’d built up, I had six weeks of work lined up in under an hour. Having built up those networks over time really saved my bacon.” And so began Henley’s freelance career. But there was one problem: not knowing what to charge. Freelance Rates Calculator “When it came to setting my rates I had no idea what was realistic, ” he says. “And I quickly discovered it was the one thing people weren’t happy to talk about.” He approached friends directly, and found that a lot of them were willing to discuss the matter privately but not publicly. “And I thought: is there a way we can pool this resource? So I put together a Google spreadsheet and said: ‘This is entirely anonymous, fill it out, and I’ll try to do something with what comes back.’ “I asked: ‘What do you do? Where are you based? What do you charge?’ And the response was fantastic. This first year about 400 people responded. Statistically, that’s not a huge amount. But it was enough to start with.” I wanted to create a very simple tool to give people confidence in what they were charging At first, all Henley did was write a blog post summarising the data. But then later, he found himself in a hotel lobby in Belfast, recovering with friends after a heavy night out at the Build conference. “I thought: I’m going to take this opportunity. I’m going to see what I can achieve in a few hours, knock together a little PHP application, put all the data in a MySQL database and just see what happens. That was the genesis of the freelance rate calculator. To take something that was interesting but not massively useful, and create a very simple tool to give people confidence in what they were charging.” The app proved a huge hit, and generated a lot of attention for Henley. “The main benefit for me is hearing people say it’s given them confidence to up their rates, ” he explains. “A number of freelancers have told me: ‘Thank you. I was really struggling to tell my clients that I wanted up from £120 a day. But your calculator gave me the ability to ask for it’.” How to charge It has, though, also attracted some criticism for being too blunt a tool. For example, some agencies have been confronted by freelancers demanding rates based on the calculator that they simply can’t afford to pay. The issue, Henley believes, is that people have used the calculator in the wrong way. “It’s a broad tool, ” he stresses. “It’s a guidance rather than a recommendation.” The calculator is intended as a guide, rather than a recommendationThere are countless factors involved in the rate you should charge a specific company for a specific job, and the figure arrived at by the calculator should be a starting point rather than the final word. “For instance, very often if you have a good relationship with an agency, you get repeat work, ” Henley points out. “So there’s a mutual interest in lowering your rates because you’re getting a regular income.” In short, you shouldn’t use the calculator as ‘evidence’ in negotiations, as this will probably just rub your contractor up the wrong way. Instead, its aim is to give you the confidence to ask for a rate that you feel is reasonable. Mental health Henley's career rapidly took off, but while his freelance job was fulfilling, he found that career success doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with happiness. It's a subject he’s since talked about openly at events. “What I found with freelancing, in hindsight, I was starting to get in a depressive cycle , ” he explains. “I was being quite self-destructive with the workload I took on. I never had to chase work, it just seemed to come to me. But I was struggling to get things finished. With freelancing, I was starting to get in a depressive cycle. I was being self-destructive with the workload I took on “I’d get 60 per cent through a project and then get excited about something new and switch attention. To be honest, I was letting a lot of people down, and in hindsight that was due to depression.” “I don’t think this is unique to our profession , ” he notes. “But I think what you can say is we’re quite open to talking about stuff. In web design, it’s all about sharing and openness, and people helping each other out. That’s gone right through my web design career.” Our name is Mud In 2012, Henley moved to Somerset and met Matt Powell through a local Dad’s Geek Club. “We were both working with ExpressionEngine, we got on personally and had similar values, ” Henley explains. “So the idea of forming a company seemed like a no-brainer.” That company is Mud, and it’s been quite the success. Henley launched Mud in 2013 with Matt Powell (left)“Now we’re eight employees, trying to get a ninth.” Their client base is an interesting one, Henley explains. “Half of our work comes from our own clients, and for the other half, we’ve developed a strong working relationship with a number of design agencies that don’t have a technical team, ” he says. “It’s been a very happy marriage, because they really value that we understand design. The ability to articulate a visual design language and in code is something we are very good at, ” he believes. “And because we have that, clients trust us.” This article was originally published in net magazine issue 296. Subscribe now. Related articles: 4 ways to cash in as a freelancer 20 top tools for freelancers Infographic reveals the state of freelancing in 2017 View the full article

There are three ways to design a great-looking chart. One: draw it from scratch using a program like Illustrator. Two: use a template tool. Three: learn how to code. A new data visualisation tool code-named Lincoln is set to change all that – if it gains approval. Previewed at Adobe Max 2017, the tool flips the typical creative process for designing a chart or infographic on its head. Rather than using data as the starting point to dictate the design, Lincoln puts the creative stage first, letting users craft their graphics and then bind the data to them. As the data populates the chart, the graphics automatically adjust to the information presented. What does that mean? Well, by automating the design and production of infographics, Lincoln lets users focus on the creative side of the process and ensure the data is visualised in the most engaging way. Get Adobe Creative Cloud“Lincoln is new set of data-driven drawing tools that sit on top of your normal drawing tools,” explained Bernard Kerr, a senior experience designer at Adobe. Kerr walked through the tool during this year’s highly anticipated ’sneaks’ session – in which new innovations are showcased – using Lincoln to quickly bring to life data from open-water swimming marathon challenge Ocean’s Seven. Watch the video below – and prepare to be amazed. (And if you like it, let Adobe know using the hashtag #ProjectLincoln. If it receives enough support, it has more chance of being incorporated into an Adobe app.) #ProjectLincoln As you can see in the video, Kerr drew a custom bar shape to represent swim time, binding it to the relevant data in a spreadsheet in one click, and using Repeat Grid – borrowed from Adobe XD – to instantly create a series of bars that represented the time of each swimmer. Kerr added text using the Text tool, binding the text box to the data column containing the swimmers’ names. He also added an icon of a swimmer from the Library Symbols panel, using “sticky anchor points” to anchor one foot to a specific location at the end of the bar – and this rule was instantly repeated throughout chart. Once he was happy with the data bindings, Kerr then showed how Lincoln can instantly apply the same rules across different data sets – in this case visualising the data for each of the seven races in the marathon – and how functionality like a radial pattern tool can visualise complex sets of data, like weather patterns over a one-year period, in seconds. Create a radial chart in one click with Project LincolnSo how much time could Lincoln save you? Kerr created 14 data visualisations in four minutes. It's impressive stuff and could revolutionise infographics – certainly it gets our vote. Taking away the drudgery Lincoln is just one of 15 ‘sneaks’ showcased this year at Adobe Max. Some will become official features built into selected software; others won’t make it past the presentation we saw today. It’s all part of Adobe’s aim to “take away the drudgery” of routine tasks, as vice president and general manager of Creative Cloud Mala Sharma explained during an earlier press briefing. The aim is to help designers work faster, freeing up more time to focus on the bigger picture of being creative. Why? Because no one wants to spend three hours doing something you can do in three minutes. This was a recurring theme at Adobe Max 2017 – the sentiment underpins all the latest announcements at this year’s conference, and we're likely to see it brought to life in increasingly impressive ways as Sensai continues to evolve Adobe's creative products. Related articles: Adobe launches new cloud-based photography service Lightroom CC HP previews Surface rival at Adobe Max 2017 8 free tools for creating infographics View the full article

Malware dubbed IOTroop that researchers say is "worse than Mirai" has already infected one million businesses worldwide. View the full article

https://www.droneaddicts.net/true-can-walk-dog-drone/ … View the full article

Researchers have spotted Locky ransomware infections emanating from the Necurs botnet via Word attachments using a DDE technique that Microsoft says is an Office feature and does not merit a security patch. View the full article

You've been working for weeks or months on a winning piece of graphic design – a great poster, logo or album cover, perhaps. You've thought it over carefully, deploying every skill you learnt while studying and working as a designer. After long consideration, the project's done and you submit it to the client. You look forward to their reaction, but then you hear the message that every professional designer dreads: "I've got a few suggestions to make..." The phrase 'design by committee', where lots of people chip in on an idea (often without any reason or authority), is a situation that no creative wants to find themselves in. It results in an original, eye-catching design losing its impact, becoming generic, and costing everyone a lot of time. Sometimes the best thing to do in situations like this is laugh, so that's exactly what the team at Graphéine did. Running with an idea originally posted on Twitter by @MarieJulien, this series of images imagines how nightmare clients could ruin iconic and effective pieces of design. Click to see how designers could ruin the student-favourite poster, Chat Noir The team looks at Tournée du Chat noir (Black Cat on tour), 1896 by Swiss painter Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen; legendary designer Saul Bass' Anatomy of a Murderer movie poster; Milton Glaser's Dylan poster; and Grapus Atelier's Louvre logo. With comments like "The font is too old-fashioned," "Add partners' logos" and "Too much white space," the scariest part is how easy it is to imagine this happening in real life. We don't want this classic film to go the way of modern movie posters Click on the images to enlarge them, making the hilarious comments such as "For your info, 'murder' is usually gore. Please add blood splatters," more readable. Nothing screams 'art' like a classy picture frame Graphéine definitely had fun with these: "This font is too square. Try something curvy like Comic Sans." Apparently Bob Dylan wasn't black. Who knew? Read more about these on the Graphéine blog Related articles: 5 logos by famous designers and why they work 4 classic movie poster designs making a comeback Have we entered the era of bad graphic design? View the full article

This month, we're taking a look at custom brushes for illustrators. We'll start with some brushes for Photoshop. These aren't all exactly new, but with so many options out there, it can be hard to know which ones to use. Beyond these top five, if you're looking for a more extensive collection, take a look at our roundup of The 60 best free Photoshop brushes. Then we'll move on to top Clip Studio Paint (aka Manga Studio) brushes. Like Photoshop, you can also add custom brushes, as our guide to creating custom brushes in Clip Studio Paint shows. There's bound to be something here for you, so let's get started. Custom brushes for Photoshop 01. 12 Free Halftone Texture Brushes Halftone brushes are great for a retro comic book lookFree If you're looking to add different tones to your illustrations, check out these free brushes by Spoon Graphics. With this set of 12 distressed halftone effects, you'll be able to add retro shading and halftone textures with ease. The pack includes a range of dot patterns including Fine, Light, Heavy and Dark, each with three size options. The brushes are also sensitive to pen pressure, so graphics tablet users can easily adjust the size of brush this way. 02. 10 Free Subtle Grunge Texture Brushes Great brushes for creating well-worn looksFree Here's another set of free Photoshop brushes from Spoon Graphics, which includes 10 presets at 2000 x 2000 resolution. The subtle textures here are versatile, and ideal for creating all kinds of distressed or worn looks. They're easy to resize and edit to suit your needs. If you're looking to add a little grunge to your illustrations, this is an awesome pack to have loaded. 03. Strokes and Splatters Create strokes and splatters easilyFree This splatter pack was created by Brusheezy user Benjamin McFetridge, who's rather new to the game – this is his second ever brush set, which he created after his first one proved so popular. It will have you tossing digital paint all over the place in no time. This set includes 25 hi-res custom brushes for Photoshop. 04. 20 Painter PS Brushes Add a painterly look to your digital artFree Liza Giannouri, another Brusheezy user, has a set of 20 painterly brushes ready for you to try. This isn't her first set. In fact, Giannouri has over 1063 uploads. This particular set includes a number of brushes designed to mimic traditional paintbrushes, and is ideal for adding a painterly look to your digital artwork. 05. Kyle T. Webster's Brushes Webster's brushes are now all included in Creative CloudFree Quite possibly my favourite brush packs come from Kyle T. Webster – although you won't be able to get them from his site anymore. That's because Adobe has partnered with Webster and now all of his brushes are included in the Creative Cloud library. How do access them? Launch Photoshop (if you don't have it already, get Creative Cloud here). Create a new document. Switch to the Libraries panel, and select the 'Kyle Brushes' library. Bonus: Make your own custom Photoshop brushes Are you interested in learning how to make your own custom brushes? If so, check out this video tutorial on how to make your own custom brushes in Photoshop. Clip Studio Paint custom brushes 06. Assorted Inks and Pencils by lapinbeau These brushes mimic different pencils and pensFree This set of Clip Studio Paint brushes by DeviantArt user lapinbeau comes with 14 different pencil and ink-style brushes, some of which were modelled after well-known artists. Styles include oil pencil, crow quill, soft pen and calligraphy. 07. Blue and Red Pencil Brushes by SerketXXI A simple but handy pack of red and blue pencil brushesFree SerketXXI, another DeviantArt user, created this set of blues and reds for those of us who remember 'the good old days' of pencils, paper and copying machines. This pack includes four brushes: light and heavy versions of red and blue pencils, for use in Clip Studio Paint. Simple but handy. 08. Daub Brush Collection DAUB offers an impressive range of brushes€2.99 - €9.99 DAUB creates custom brushes for Clip Studio Paint, Affinity, Procreate and Photoshop. Its brushes are crafted using natural media and parametric generation, making them as realistic as possible. There are a number of different packs from which to choose, or you can grab yourself the Super Bundle for €9.99 (around $11.80/£8.90 at today's exchange rates) and call it day. 09. Yeti Rough Inker & Yeti-Go-To-Inker Zombie Yeti's brushes are versatile and freeFree The Yeti was one of the first brushes I added to my installation of Clip Studio. I use it with almost every illustration I create. These brushes are the work of the "damn nice, self-aware, humble, tall and hairy" Zombie Yeti. The brushes create a lovely ink pen effect, and the best part is: they're free. 10. Mega Pack from Flyland Designs These are essentials in my Clip Studio 'U-toolity' belt$6.99 Once again saving the best for last, Brian Allen at Flyland Designs has created what I like to call my Clip Studio 'U-toolity' belt. His mega-packs have everything you need to create the perfect illustration. For just $6.99 USD you can get Volume 1 and Volume 2, which combined has more than 220 brushes. These include crosshatch brushes, copic marker brushes, fur and hair brushes, inking brushes, pencil brushes, special pattern brushes, splatter brushes, stippling brushes and more. So what are you waiting for? Go grab those brushes! Bonus: Make your own Clip Studio Paint brushes Interested in making your own custom brushes? Try one of these helpful tutorials: Create custom brushes in Clip Studio Paint or Using custom brushes in Clip Studio Paint. You might also like our tutorial on how to create a custom sticker brush in Artrage. Read more: 30 of the best Procreate brushes The 23 best Illustrator brushes The best drawing tablets in 2017 View the full article

This week's Threatpost News Wrap Podcast recaps the ROCA, KRACK and Boundhook attacks, as well as the release of Google Advanced Protection for Gmail. View the full article

Choosing the best monitor for graphic design, 3D art, digital art, photo editing and more can be a bit of a minefield. To make the most of your great graphic design laptop, you need to ensure your monitor packs colour accuracy, make sure you've got the right number of inputs, choose the right size and much more. Just as well then that we are here with some terrific options when you're choosing the best monitor for you. And, as you'd expect, all of these monitors are 4K or above, making them. The best and most accurate picture quality carries a high price tag. Eizo displays are a familiar sight in professional photography and video production studios. The 31-inch ColorEdge CG318-4K continues this tradition, with not just full sRGB coverage, but 99% of the Adobe RGB spectrum and 98% DCI-P3. It fully supports 10-bit colour, taken from a 16-bit look-up table. Unlike other 4K displays, the CG318-4K has a 4096 x 2160 resolution. This reflects the different, slightly taller 4K standard used in digital video production, compared with the 3840 x 2160 resolution used in most computer displays. All of these features come together to produce a jaw-dropping image, making your creative work shine. Oh, and there's a built-in calibration tool to constantly keep the colours as accurate as possible, which pops across the screen every time it's powered on, along with a bundled monitor hood. Dell's top-end 31.5-inch 4K display packs in a lot of professional-grade features for superb colour accuracy. But while it costs a lot less than Eizo's offering, it's still a pricey prospect, as expected of a large high-end 4K display. Dell's top-end 4K display now covers the DCI-P3 colour spectrum. It has a specification that almost rivals Eizo's monster CG318-4K, as it hits 99% Adobe RGB coverage and 87% DCI-P3, delivering great picture quality. This is an incredible display – but do you really want a 40-inch panel? Based on VA-IPS panel technology, it offers extremely good contrast, with 300 cd/m2 brightness. Its menu is controlled with a small joystick at the back and it also offers a four-way picture-in-picture (PIP) mode, allowing you to allocate a quarter of the screen to each video input. On such a large 4K screen, that means that each connected device will have its own 1920 x 1080 screen area – perfect for seeing your designs in Illustrator or working on your 3D art on one machine while looking up reference images on another device on the same screen, for example. This 32-inch monitor has an IPS panel with 350 cd/m2 brightness, 60Hz 4K support over DisplayPort 1.2 and a range of other inputs. Not bad for its price point. Furthermore, it has a flexible stand with pivot, tilt and swivel, and height adjustment, so you won't get neck ache while working into the night on a tight deadline. Colour accuracy is good since it's a 10-bit panel as well – ideal for print projects that demand colour accuracy. Get super colour accuracy and image quality for any design work with the Samsung UD970, thanks to this 4K monitor being calibrated for both. Elsewhere, there are features such as Picture By Picture (PBP) and Dual Colour Mode (DCM) - the latter enabling you to use two of the eight different preset colour modes simultaneously on the same screen. Obviously, if you don't require insane levels of colour accuracy then this is probably overkill for your needs – but as a designer working with a lot of imagery, this will appeal. The fact that the UD970 comes with a smudge and glare-reducing matte finish only adds to this super bundle, delivering excellent image reproduction in almost any lighting conditions. Asus' Pro Art line competes with professional colour-accurate screens. It's got loads of inputs, with three HDMI ports – including one HDMI 2.0 port capable of the full 60Hz needed for smooth 4K – and two DisplayPort inputs. The Asus PA329Q is the upgraded version of of the company's flagship 4K professional display, with a 10-bit IPS panel that now supports a 16-bit colour look-up table and quoted 100% Adobe RGB coverage, with support for the DCI-P3 colour spectrum as well. Iiyama's 28-inch B2888UHSU is a lot more reasonably priced than many of the options we've presented in this buying guide. It uses a TN panel with a 1ms response time, and although the viewing angles aren't quite as wide as you'll find with an IPS display, there are plenty of small extras that make the B2888UHSU a really good buy. It has plenty of inputs, too, plus a fully adjustable stand, and a picture-in-picture mode, so you can use two devices simultaneously with this monitor. The U28E590D is a slick 28-inch 4K monitor with a beautiful design and a whopping 8.3 billion pixels. DisplayPort 1.2 gives you fluid 60Hz 4K, while everything is detailed and clear thanks to a brightness of 370cd/m. Picture settings can be tweaked using the on-screen menu, or you can sit back and enable its Dynamic Contrast mode to do the heavy lifting. There's also very smart port placement, so you won't have to bend around the back to connect any cables or peripherals. Related articles: The best laptops for graphic design 2017 Typography 55 best free fonts for designers The best cheap laptop deals for creatives View the full article

So you’re at design school with your essential kit. And you’re doing pretty well. So well, in fact, it might be going to your head. If you don’t want your design career to be dead in the water before you even graduate, take heed of the failings of those who have gone before you. While there are plenty of proactive positive actions you can take to set yourself on the path to success, there are also some pitfalls to avoid. Here are five archetypal design student attitudes that are sure to make you crash and burn, and give your fledgling career the rainbow doughnut of death… 01. The rip-off merchant Gosh, that design sure looks familiar [Photo by Himesh Kumar Behera on Unsplash] They say there’s a fine line between inspiration and imitation. Don’t cross it. As a student, you’re a crisp, blank sheet of paper, ready to be doodled with fresh ideas. But if you rip off someone else’s style, you might as well be a battered old photocopier. News can travel quickly if you plagiarise, too, and if the creative in question calls you out and burns you publicly on social media, it’s a long way back if you want to be taken seriously again. The industry is smaller than you think. 02. The walking cliché Heavy-framed glasses aren't for everyone [Photo by Braydon Anderson on Unsplash] We all know the well-worn stereotype for how a creative should look and dress. But skinny jeans, a checked shirt, beard and glasses do not a designer make. Don’t spend your student loan on dressing the part and expect success to fall into your lap because you can blend in: it’s about standing out, after all. Any design studio worth its salt will value your portfolio, your attitude, and your ideas above your appearance. If that’s your style anyway, knock yourself out – but if not, be yourself and you just might blaze a trail of your own. 03. The arrogant one Get your ego in check – you still have plenty to learn [Photo by Melanie Hughes on Unsplash] Nobody likes an over-inflated ego – particularly from a student. And yet, it’s an all-too-common sight. Sure, you’ve landed your dream placement and are on track for a first-class degree: great, good for you. Don’t start strutting the halls and crowing your accomplishments from the rooftops. And don’t ever think you’re above the tasks you’re given. Your potential studio mates will soon go cold if you think you’re God’s gift. You don’t have to be a brown-noser during placements or your first real design job. But – as our article on How to transform a design internship into a job says – it does pay to be humble, to soak up the experience around you, and to go above and beyond whatever is asked of you. 04. The hasty bridge-burner There goes another client relationship [Photo by Dawn Armfield on Unsplash] It’s all about who you know, and when you’re first starting out building up a contacts book, every one of them is gold dust. You never know who they could introduce you to, or where the rabbit hole could lead. Treasure those relationships. Nurture them. It can take time – and remember, they’re not just boxes to be ticked or rungs of a ladder to climb. They’re people. If you get a knock-back from your first attempt at getting a foot in the door, be gracious and try again later. Don’t lose your cool and douse that already rickety bridge in petrol. 05. The turd-polisher Sparkers won't help if your pie doesn't taste good [Photo by Lucy Heath on Unsplash] If you’ve overcome the previous four hurdles, you should be a humble, honest, level-headed creative with an individual spirit and a passion for learning. In short, you’ll be mega employable. The final step is to value substance as well as style. It’s all very well having the skills to make something pop in Photoshop, but that’s not what great design is. Get into the habit of paring your ideas back to the absolute basics before you develop them. If they work as a thumbnail sketch or a one-line pitch, you’re well on your way. In short, if a great idea isn’t there at the core of a project, don’t just roll that turd in glitter and stick a sparkler in it. You’ll thank us later. Read more: The student guide to working at a top agency 7 organisations design students need to know 5 must-read books for design students 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 a top marketing course bundle that will teach you all sorts of new skills and help you sell your work. You believe in your product or service, but getting people to even give you a look can be a real challenge. You need to know how to cut through the crowded market to sell your products, and you can learn that art with the Digital Marketing 22-Course Masterclass. It's on sale now for 92% off the retail price. Finding success and sales isn’t just a matter of luck – it requires knowing how to find an audience and get them interested in what you're offering. You can learn how to do just that with the Digital Marketing 22-Course Masterclass. This huge collection of courses is packed with more than 28.5 hours of actionable information on how to show off your product on platforms like Google, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Periscope. You'll have people flocking to you in no time. You can get the Digital Marketing 22-Course Masterclass on sale now for just $15 (approx £11). That's 92% off the usual retail price of $200 for a can't-miss collection of courses that will pay for itself in no time, so 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 Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: The best Black Friday deals 2017 20 tools to make your team more productive 55 best free fonts for designers View the full article

Cisco patched a critical bug in its Cloud Services Platform 2100 hardware and at the same time told customers 96 of its products are vulnerable to KRACK vulnerabilities. View the full article

Photos look set to get a whole lot more expressive thanks to a new piece of software developed in partnership with members of Facebook's computational photography team. The software, led by researchers in Israel, can take a portrait with a neutral expression and animate the facial features into different expressions. As well as photographs, the software is also capable of adjusting paintings. To see what the tool is capable of, just take a look at the Mona Lisa, above, which now sports a smirk instead of a coy smile. A video on the BBC news website shows off the full capabilities of the software. By using a filmed subject to map the facial features, the target image can have its expression adjusted in a variety of ways. A subject is used to model the expressionsWhat sets the software apart from some of the Adobe Sensei-powered image adjusting tools unveiled this week is that the portraits react in real time to the expressions pulled by the filmed subject. "We're transferring the fine scale details to the target face," Tel Aviv University's Hadar Averbruch-Elor tells the BBC. "We're hallucinating missing regions, most notably the mouth interior, which we don't have from the single image. "And also we're copying creases and wrinkles that are commonly associated with the expressions." The software isn't just limited to modern photos. It can also work on classical paintings and even emojis. Researchers involved with the project think that the tool could find a further use in VR to animate expressions. Thanks to being developed in partnership with two members of Facebook's computational photography team, it wouldn't be too surprising if the software ended up appearing on the social media platform before too long. With the BBC video showing how Facebook feelings such as 'like', 'love', and 'angry' could animate a photograph, the software could provide a new way for the social media site to grab a user's attention and get them interacting. [Still images taken from the BBC video] Related articles: VR: is it the future of design? The 14 best photography websites How to enhance photography on your website View the full article

There’s something quite magical about branding. When done right, it can transform something that’s on the face of it quite generic, like a fizzy drink or a shampoo, into a ‘lifestyle choice’ that makes the buyer feel good about their purchase beyond its basic functionality. In short, branding is all about making an emotional connection that transcends the mere physical nature of the product or service. And there’s nothing better for forming that instant, subconscious connection than a powerful image. Because while text takes a few seconds to process, images instantly impact the subconscious, which is much more influential on our choices than we often realise. So whether you’re designing a website, a poster, a print ad or a social media campaign, choosing the right imagery is key. Here are five ways to make sure you choose well. 01. The direct gaze This 2016 print ad for Mon Paris by Yves Saint Laurent uses a direct gazeFlick through the pages of a magazine like Vogue and you’ll soon notice that most of the adverts from clothes, fragrances and accessories feature models looking right at the camera. And that’s no coincidence. The fashion and beauty industry knows that its buyers make choices for deeply personal reasons, and that in the real world, eye contact is an important element of making people trust and like you. (For example, research by the University of Aberdeen shows that you are more likely to think other people in a photo are attractive if they are looking straight at you and smiling.) So although a still image may seem like a poor substitute for real-life human interaction, the use of face-on images can be a powerful way to get attention and build a feeling of rapport between your brand and its audience. 02. Colour Coca-Cola applies its familiar colour palette to all its branding imageryMuch of the work of branding is centred around drawing up personas (the nominal audience for your brand) and creating imagery that will stimulate, excite and engage them. But that only gets you so far. Consider Coca-Cola. Its advertising campaigns have long been associated with fun, youth, health, beauty and sexiness. But so are those of its competitors. So how do you differentiate yourself, without going too niche and alienating part of your target audience? Although regional markets require different approaches, the red and white colour scheme achieves a sense of consistencyOne way is to use visual cues that are distinct to your own images, and that people will subconsciously or consciously come to associate with your brand. The most obvious way to do this is using colour. So while Coke’s imagery varies hugely around the world, it will always be consistently centred around a red and white palette. Coke has succeeded in ‘owning’ the red and white combination through rigorous applicationTo see how other brands have used colour combinations to define themselves visually, check out our article 21 outstanding uses of colour in branding. 03. Simplicity The iPod silhouette campaign used super-simple imageryThe simplest designs are often the most effective, and that applies just as much to branding imagery as to anything else. The simpler your imagery, the more it has the potential to become iconic, to work on a global scale, and to be flexible enough to scale well across different media, including print ads, television commercials, billboards, posters, wrap advertising and social media. A great example is the iPod silhouette campaign of the early 2000s, the brainchild of then TBWA\Chiat\Day art director Susan Alinsangan. This centred around silhouetted characters against brightly coloured backgrounds who were listening to music on their iPods. Steve Jobs initially didn’t like the idea, as it didn’t show the iPod in detail or explain what it did. However, as his ad team explained, the campaign didn’t necessarily need to do all that: it was about connecting on a deeper level, and conveying the idea of the iPod as the choice of a new generation. The energetic silhouettes and day-glo colours of the imagery met those needs beautifully, and once Jobs had relented, it became a hugely successful campaign for Apple. 04. Association Red Bull’s branding imagery is aspirational, rather than reflecting the typical Red Bull drinkerThe imagery you choose for your campaign needs to be something that appeals to your target audience. But importantly, it doesn’t necessarily need to represent them or their use of the product accurately. It’s sometimes better to focus on choosing imagery that promotes associations with other things. Red Bull offers a great example. If ever a product needed strong branding, it’s Red Bull. None of its ingredients are patented or secret, and the drink itself is easy to copy. Yet Red Bull has between a 70 to 90 percent market share in over 100 countries worldwide… and that’s almost completely due to its superlative branding. A major theme of its brand imagery is an association with the adrenaline-packed extreme sports and stunts that it often sponsors and features in campaigns. In truth, few Red Bull drinkers are ever going to go snowboarding, sand surfing or the like. But making an association in people’s minds between the product and its brand values (positivity, determination and living life to the full) has worked brilliantly for Red Bull. Even though most people are in reality more likely to drink it in the pub or on the sofa. 05. Testing You can set up A/B testing for your website for free within Google Analytics ExperimentsYou’ll have a good idea what kind of images are going to work with your target audience, but you can never be entirely sure. So the practical way to see if your instincts are broadly correct is to harness the ‘wisdom of crowds’ and run some A/B testing (aka split testing). This basically involves serving up two different versions of a design to your audience - whether that’s on your brand’s website, newsletter or social media channels - and using analytics tools to check which performs best in terms of your client’s goals (eg clicks, likes or conversions). The results can often be quite surprising, and can shake your cosy assumptions about what images will resonate with customers. This Pixel Pixel blog post explains how to set up an A/B test on your website in a few minutes using Google Analytics Experiments. Related articles: Where to find unusual images for your design projects 5 tips for using stock imagery in your designs 10 great uses of imagery on agency websites View the full article

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/10/18/five-cybersecurity-predictions-that-might-actually-come-true/ … View the full article

Google announced a public bug bounty for Google Play that brings developers and researchers together to find and patch flaws in popular apps. View the full article

Try this little experiment... think of a creative industry that doesn't rely on a laptop computers as an essential tool. We've racked our brains and can't think of a single one. But new laptops can be expensive, so now and then you need a discount or a special offer to help you out. Having the right laptop for you can make a significant difference to your professional life. It can be the difference between pain-free, powerful processing, and a sluggish machine that takes an eon to upload your images. The degrees between dull, murky screens and dazzling displays that let you create eye-catching illustrations. And ensuring you avoid erratic touchpads that are virtually impossible to control. You could simply head to Amazon, find the most expensive laptop it sells and buy that – you're unlikely to be disappointed. But this new guide to the best laptop deals on the market will help you save a packet, and we'll update it regularly so that you see the best current deals – whether on Black Friday or not. We also dispel the myth that a cheap laptop is a synonym for a bad laptop: as well as the very best laptop deals on the market now, we've highlighted competent computers that you can buy on a budget all year round. A disclaimer before we start: the list of laptop deals below may contain some Chromebooks (laptops that have no software besides Chrome, relying instead on the G Suite of apps and browser-based tools). We know that Chromebooks will be no good for graphic designers needing Photoshop or 3D artists needing to render models, but they have their place as a cheap second machine for composing emails, invoicing and other less intensive tasks. Best laptop deals to buy in the US today Best laptop deals to buy in the UK today Next page: The best cheap laptop deals While special offers may give you great discounts while they last, they can also be fleeting and easy to miss. The following laptops offer excellent value for money all year round. When you've found the laptop that you like the best, click on the prices that our Hawk price comparison tool has found to see the best deal today. It's no surprise that the Yoga Book's main asset is flexibility. And we're not just talking about the rotating hinge that lets you use this laptop like a chunky tablet. You get to choose between Windows 10 or Android operating systems depending on what best suits your work, and the capacitive interface can be used as a keyboard or a drawing pad. It's great for sketching and the handsome screen is complimentary to your creations, too. Read TechRadar's Lenovo Yoga Book review We're not going to pretend that the Pavilion x2 is the perfect companion for editing videos and creating masterpieces, but if you need a dirt cheap laptop for research and admin tasks then this HP PC fits the bill. The HD display and surprising amounts of power mean that it punches well above its weight considering the eye-catching price tag. And the tablet mode means that you can flick through image galleries and videos in comfort. Read TechRadar's full HP Pavilion x2 review OK, so maybe this isn't everybody's definition of a 'cheap laptop'. But head to the Apple Store for your purchase, and this is the most affordable laptop you'll find. That makes it well worth mentioning here, considering the brilliance of Apple's pre-loaded programs, which have helped to make Apple products the go-to devices for creatives all over the world for the last couple of decades. This iteration has an upgraded processor and more RAM than previous versions, as well. Read TechRadar's full MacBook Air review Related articles: 5 best laptops for video editing Our favourite laptops for graphic designers Best laptops for using Photoshop View the full article

Over the past two weeks, Rich McCor, Thomas Kakareko and Nathalie Geffroy have been venturing across the US on an epic road trip, and they've finally reached their destination: Adobe MAX in Vegas. Last time we touched base, the creative trio had just started off on their journey. Since then, they've been continuing to push their creative boundaries with the help of Adobe's full suite of tools. Rich McCor worked his magic on US landmarks McCor – whose playful style uses paper silhouettes to transform famous landmarks – turned Phoenix's Souper Salad Restaurant into a beautiful bride, and Kakareko used his talent for dramatic landscapes to capture some moody on-the-road shots. One of Thomas Kakareko's signature moody landscapesThe challenge of documenting their trip in style was made much easier by the all-new Lightroom CC – announced at Adobe MAX. The tool is now based in the cloud, making it simple for the trio of creatives to organise, edit and share their impressive photography wherever they were. Edits are automatically synced between devices, too, so they could work on their photographs on a laptop during their downtime, then finish off any edits easily on their smartphones whilst on the road. Nathalie Geoffroy used Lightroom CC to make precise edits to her stunning photographyA new colour range and updated masking tools also enabled the creatives to make precise edits to their work, to produce stunning images such as the shot by Geffroy above. Over the weekend, the #RoadtoMAX17 team explored Zion National Park, a nature preserve that is instantly recognisable thanks to its steep red cliffs. They then hit the road for one final time en route to their final stop in Las Vegas, where they’ve been showing off their work at Adobe MAX – The Creativity Conference – which ends on Sunday. View the full article

To produce a successful rebrand, or even to stand a chance of making it onto our prestigious list of the 10 best logos ever, you need to follow the advice of the professionals whenever it pops up. Texas-based graphic designer Armin Vit chronicles thousands of new brand and identity projects every year through Brand New, a division of design firm and publishing enterprise Under Consideration, which he co-founded with his wife, Bryony Gomez-Palacio. The ex-Pentagram designer has reviewed hundreds of thousands of the world's biggest and bravest branding projects, so who better to explain exactly what does – and doesn't – make the perfect branding? We caught up with Vit to find out what makes a standout logo. Here are his five top tips… 01. Do the gut reaction test Armin Vit on stage at Kyoorius Deisgnyatra. Photography: Genevieve Vanspall"The first thing I look for when evaluating a new logo or branding project is an initial, aesthetic, gut reaction: do I like it?" Vit explains. "If I don't – if it requires a lot of explanation to make it make sense – then I won't enjoy it. But from the get-go, if it looks good, smart and well-constructed, then I'm at least interested." 02. Does it work? The Airbnb logo is certainly different"I then look a lot at execution: how it works; how it might work in different contexts. I compare it to what they had before and what other companies in the same industry have. Does it stand out? Does it blend in?" He explains. "I thought the Airbnb logo was really interesting. They were confident in their process and designers. "Nowadays most icons are taken: the Nike swoosh is taken, the Apple apple is taken – so coming up with a little symbol that can stand for something as big as Airbnb was really impressive." 03. Good logos make sense YouTube revealed new logo recently that emphasised the play button "Next, I look at every part of the explanation available from the client or designer. If the idea's good, you read the explanation they give you and think yeah, that makes sense. "When a logo's good, it's instantly clear and there's a solid, simple explanation behind it." 04. Have courage Google took a huge leap with its redesign in 2015"What's the most common pitfall I see brand identity work fall prey to? Sometimes a project doesn't stand out. Either the designer or the client doesn't have the courage to do something different. Or if they chose to do something similar, they didn't have the commitment to it very, very well. "The 2015 Google logo redesign was really fantastic. Not so much the word mark, but when you look at the whole system behind it and the care that went into it. "It's a giant company taking a huge leap, going a completely different direction but somehow managing to maintain that quirky DNA they had. That sort of thing stands out regardless of the haters." 05. Take a step back The iconic London Underground logo is one of our 10 best logos ever "The key piece of advice I'd give to a designer or studio tasked with a rebranding project is: when you present your work for the first time, make sure you've looked at it from an outside point of view. "Everything might make sense to you because you've been involved in the process. But designers and clients can get too involved in their own processes, and forget to step back and see how others are going to perceive it. Take a step back and ask: is this right? Does this work?" Related articles: 7 classic logos that should never have been changed 25 logo design tips from the experts 21 outstanding uses of colour in branding View the full article

Try this little experiment... think of a creative industry that doesn't rely on a laptop computers as an essential tool. We've racked our brains and can't think of a single one. But new laptops can be expensive, so now and then you need a discount or a special offer to help you out. Having the right laptop for you can make a significant difference to your professional life. It can be the difference between pain-free, powerful processing, and a sluggish machine that takes an eon to upload your images. The degrees between dull, murky screens and dazzling displays that let you create eye-catching illustrations. And ensuring you avoid erratic touchpads that are virtually impossible to control. You could simply head to Amazon, find the most expensive laptop it sells and buy that – you're unlikely to be disappointed. But this new guide to the best laptop deals on the market will help you save a packet, and we'll update it regularly so that you see the best current deals – whether on Black Friday or not. We also dispel the myth that a cheap laptop is a synonym for a bad laptop: as well as the very best laptop deals on the market now, we've highlighted competent computers that you can buy on a budget all year round. A disclaimer before we start: the list of laptop deals below may contain some Chromebooks (laptops that have no software besides Chrome, relying instead on the G Suite of apps and browser-based tools). We know that Chromebooks will be no good for graphic designers needing Photoshop or 3D artists needing to render models, but they have their place as a cheap second machine for composing emails, invoicing and other less intensive tasks. Best laptop deals to buy in the US today Best laptop deals to buy in the UK today Next page: The best cheap laptop deals While special offers may give you great discounts while they last, they can also be fleeting and easy to miss. The following laptops offer excellent value for money all year round. When you've found the laptop that you like the best, click on the prices that our Hawk price comparison tool has found to see the best deal today. It's no surprise that the Yoga Book's main asset is flexibility. And we're not just talking about the rotating hinge that lets you use this laptop like a chunky tablet. You get to choose between Windows 10 or Android operating systems depending on what best suits your work, and the capacitive interface can be used as a keyboard or a drawing pad. It's great for sketching and the handsome screen is complimentary to your creations, too. Read TechRadar's Lenovo Yoga Book review We're not going to pretend that the Pavilion x2 is the perfect companion for editing videos and creating masterpieces, but if you need a dirt cheap laptop for research and admin tasks then this HP PC fits the bill. The HD display and surprising amounts of power mean that it punches well above its weight considering the eye-catching price tag. And the tablet mode means that you can flick through image galleries and videos in comfort. Read TechRadar's full HP Pavilion x2 review OK, so maybe this isn't everybody's definition of a 'cheap laptop'. But head to the Apple Store for your purchase, and this is the most affordable laptop you'll find. That makes it well worth mentioning here, considering the brilliance of Apple's pre-loaded programs, which have helped to make Apple products the go-to devices for creatives all over the world for the last couple of decades. This iteration has an upgraded processor and more RAM than previous versions, as well. Read TechRadar's full MacBook Air review Related articles: 5 best laptops for video editing Our favourite laptops for graphic designers Best laptops for using Photoshop View the full article

We're constantly amazed by all of the cool new open source projects; if you look around there's almost always a blinding open source alternative to whatever pro software you need for your web design work. With so many exciting projects out there, we had our work cut out trying to decide on our favourites. From source code editors to JavaScript app builders to web font tools and more, here are 13 great examples of the superb work that's being done to make the web a better place. 01. React Native React Native is like React, but for native mobile appsReact Native enables users to build native mobile apps using only JavaScript. It's similar to React (the popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces), except its building blocks are native components rather than web components. With it, users can creative rich mobile UIs that are indistinguishable from apps build using Objective-C, Java or Swift. However, it does combine nicely with those three, so if you want to drop down to native code to optimise certain components, that's fine too. The project is incredibly popular on GitHub, with around 1,500 contributors. (You might want to also check out these 20 JavaScript tools to blow your mind) 02. Yarn Is Yarn the new NPM?Offering 'ultra-fast, mega-secure, super-reliable' dependency management, open source project Yarn is a competitor to node package manager. Features include the ability to reinstall packages without an internet connection, an efficient request queue that promises to maximise network use, and a flat mode that helps you avoid duplicate dependencies. 03. Pattern Lab A suite of tools for working according to atomic design principlesPattern Lab is a suite of tools designed to help you build sites using the principles of atomic design. That means breaking interfaces down into smaller parts, and operating within a UI design system that you've built to suit your purposes. Atomic design and Pattern Lab are both the brainchild of Brad Frost, and have blossomed in popularity since they launched. 04. Visual Studio Code An open source project from MicrosoftThis free, open source code editor from Microsoft has a slew of great features that make coding quicker. There’s a function called IntelliSense that provides smart completions; built-in Git commands; debugging from within the editor and much more. In September 2017 there was a significant update to the project, with the addition of macOS touch bar support, integrated terminal performance, and automatic import suggestions. 05. Font Awesome Awesome indeedFont Awesome is indeed awesome: 675 (at the time of writing) icons contained within a single font, constituting "a pictographic language of web-related actions". Icons are infinitely scalable, so they look the same at any size, and you can style them with CSS. It works well with all frameworks and screen readers, and doesn't require JavaScript. (You might also like these 40 top free web fonts) 06. Bootstrap Makes frontend web development faster and easierBootstrap is a frontend component library to help you build responsive, mobile-first projects using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and one of the most popular open source projects on GitHub. Bootstrap was launched by Twitter in 2011, but as it grew, its creators Mark Otto and Jacob Thornton decided to move it to its own open source organisation, and the project separated from Twitter. Bootstrap has a small footprint, Less integration and compelling visual design. There is a web-based customiser that you can use to tailor it to your open source project: components and jQuery plugins can be added or removed by ticking checkboxes, and variables can be customised using a web form. There's a 12-column responsive grid, typography, form controls and it uses responsive CSS to work with mobile browsers. One of our 14 great free Bootstrap themes might come in handy here, too. 07. Brackets A modern text editor for designing in the browserAn open source project that began its life at Adobe, Brackets is a lightweight and modern code editor focused on web technologies. Crafted specifically for web designers and frontend developers, it boasts a collection of innovative features, including inline editors that let you open windows into the code you're working on rather than jumping between file tabs, and a live preview the offers real-time connection with your browser. (You might also like these 3 handy Chrome extensions for frontend developers) 08. The Accessibility Project A11y makes accessibility more approachableThe Accessibility Project is an open source project committed to making web accessibility easier for frontend designers and developers to understand and adopt into a daily workflow. The project started in mid-January 2013 in response to a general feeling among developers that core accessibility concepts, features and code examples are overly difficult to extract. The project has three core tenets. It aims to be digestible (offering short, easy to understand pieces of content), up-to-date (in line with the latest standards) and forgiving (because people make mistakes, and web accessibility is tricky). At the time of writing, 102 people have contributed to The Accessibility Project and it has become an invaluable resource for any developer looking to make their sites more accessible to all. 09. Laravel Make beautiful code with Laravel Laravel has revolutionised PHP development. A free, open source project, it pitches itself as the framework for web artisans – in other words, people who value code that's elegant, simple and readable – and it helps teams and individuals build well-made applications quickly. There's a big community and collection of resources around Laravel (for example, the Laracast screencasts) and it's one of the most popular PHP frameworks in use today. 10. Grunt Grunt, the JavaScript task runner Grunt allows you to automate common tasks using JavaScript. You can perform mundane, repetitive tasks such as minification, compilation, unit testing and linting with almost zero effort. And because Grunt is extensible, if someone hasn't already built what you need, you can easily author and publish your own Grunt plugin. Grunt has dramatically lowered the barrier to entry for web developers by providing a common interface for the tasks in their build process. The extensive plugin ecosystem and easy configuration format makes it possible for anyone on the team to create a modern build process – designers included. 11. Ember.js Make ambitious apps with EmberEmber.js bills itself as "a framework for creating ambitious web applications". One of the biggest features is its data binding; objects in Ember can bind properties to each other, so when a property changes in one object, the other is kept in sync. Another interesting feature is Ember's the ability to define functions on an object that you can then treat as properties. Hence, if a model has a first and last name, you could create a function to define a person's full name, and have it treated as if the model has a full name property. The feature most likely to draw you in is that Ember automatically updates its views when data changes – saving you a lot of work. 12. AngularJS AngularJS: HTML enhances for web appsAngularJS extends the vocabulary of HTML for declaring dynamic views in web apps. It takes a slightly different approach to Backbone and Ember by doing data binding directly in your HTML. It also uses just plain JavaScript for its controllers, meaning there's no need to extend other objects as you have to do in other frameworks. The data binding means data in views is automatically updated when the data changes, but also Angular makes it effortless to bind forms to models, meaning a lot of the code you typically write to link a form to creating a new instance of a model is not needed. Its data binding is bi-directional. By moving a lot of the binding directly into the HTML, Angular leaves you with much leaner controllers and less JavaScript to write. It might take a while to get your head around, but this approach is really powerful. 13. Ghost Ghost, an open source blogging platformBlogging platform Ghost turned heads when it was successfully funded through Kickstarter, surpassing its original request of £25,000 and eventually bring in over £196,000 in funding. The open source project is now maintained by non-profit organisation the Ghost Foundation plus some independent contributors (273 people have contributed to the project so far). Ghost has a unique purpose in providing bloggers with a simple interface that allows them to write and publish their content without dealing with the complexity of traditional platforms. It's free as a package you can download and install to your own web server, but if that's too much hassle and you're willing to pay, there are pro hosted versions. Read more: How the web industry is coping in uncertain times Get started with web accessibility The pro's guide to UI design View the full article

Yesterday the UK saw its first advert for sanitary products that actually features 'blood'. The Blood Normal campaign from Bodyform was much-needed, but there's still more to be done in the world of period product advertising. Branding for sanitary products has always been, well, a bit pants. The packaging is usually garishly bright and the ads show young, attractive women rollerskating, climbing mountains and gallivanting around in white trousers. And then there’s the unnatural-looking blue liquid that is poured onto pads, as if menstruating were some sort of strange science experiment instead of a bodily function that roughly half the world’s population experience monthly for an average of 40 years of their lives. I don’t know who came up with the idea of equating having your period with a magical burst of energy I don’t know who came up with the idea of equating having your period with a magical burst of energy, but given that most women I know don’t want to rollerskate or wear white trousers on a normal day, let alone when they are leaking blood, I seriously doubt it was a woman. And as anyone who’s grown up with these products can attest, using them doesn’t make you feel any better. They don’t make cramps go away or stop you feeling moody or tired. In recent years, some of the shame and embarrassment around menstruation has lifted as women have opened up about the subject in the public domain. In 2015, Rupi Kaur caused a viral sensation by Instagramming a ‘shocking’ picture of her, fully clothed but sporting a period stain; Olympic medalist Fu Yuanhui confessed that her period may have affected her performance in 2016; and the classification of sanitary products as ‘luxury goods’ has been debated in UK Parliament. Some brands have listened; some are even leading the conversation. Always Both big players in the UK sanitary towel market, Bodyform and Always, have taken steps to bring their campaigns in line with modern attitudes. Always claims it is ‘on a mission to boost girls’ confidence’. Its Black Pencil-winning Like a Girl campaign showed how girls’ perceptions of their abilities nosedive once they hit adolescence; a new (and nauseating) ad is about embracing failure. While the points it’s trying to make may be valid, equating confidence with sanitary towels is questionable. And the brand’s past and persistent message that no-one should know you’re menstruating has also arguably played a part in girls’ negative self-image. Bodyform In 2016, Bodyform ran a campaign with the strapline ‘no blood should hold us back,’ which showed actual women bleeding, albeit because they were doing sport. The significance of showing quite graphic images of blood in an ad about menstruation should not be underestimated. Another Bodyform ad saw a woman putting a sanitary towel in her pants, in a toilet, for the first time ever. In line with old-school period ads, she was also a trapeze artist in a white leotard. But the ad suggests this was her job, and not something she just felt like doing because her uterus was shedding its lining. Yesterday's Blood Normal advert finally showed a blood-like liquid in a sanitary towel for the first time (a corn syrup and dye mixture rather than blood, for health and safety reasons, but still better than blue water), as well as blood running down a woman's leg in the shower. The message in this new campaign, apparently gleaned from the company's research that found 74% of people wanted to see more honest representation of periods in adverts, is "Periods are normal. Showing them should be too." Mooncup One company that has never been shy about what it’s offering is Mooncup, whose marketing for its reusable menstrual cups has typically (and sensibly) focused on the environmental and economical benefits of using its product. Its latest ad takes a different approach. A humorous and a clever play on traditional stories of men rescuing women, it has a killer strapline: ‘periods, without the drama’. But the ad’s message and story is not very clear if you don’t know what a Mooncup is, which many don’t. Thinx Thinx's packaging makes it clear where its tampons are goingIn the US, innovative alternatives developed by and aimed at millennial women are disrupting the market. Thinx sells ‘period panties’ – a revolutionary idea in itself – plus tampons that come in blood red boxes depicting an image of a vagina, with the slide off outer layer revealing a picture of a tampon underneath. Its adverts describe the realities of periods in a clear and engaging way, and have been praised for breaking taboos left right and centre. FLEX The packaging for FLEX’s menstrual disc takes a more luxury approachThe owners of FLEX, which sells a menstrual disc that can be worn for ‘mess-free period sex’ also deserve kudos for daring to mention ‘sex’ and ‘period’ in the same sentence. FLEX’s sleek black, gold and white packaging is more akin to expensive sex toys or make-up than ‘feminine care’. But at $45 for three months' worth, that mess-free period sex does not come cheap. Period Equity Branding for US charity Period Equity, designed by Pentagram’s Paula ScherAnd as Paula Scher eloquently reminds us with her simple yet effective branding for US charity Period Equity, periods are not luxuries. LOLA The packaging for LOLA’s mix and match products is simple and chicReflecting that its products are necessary basics, without making them look unattractive, LOLA’s organic tampons and pads have a simple and chic feel. In the US, they also come delivered to your door in customisable boxes, taking into account that not every period day requires the same product. Fémme Pearlfisher's campaign for Fémme was sensitive to Chinese consumersWith similar muted colours to LOLA, Pearlfisher’s branding for Chinese tampon company Fémme is feminine, delicate and discreet, and was developed after extensive research of taboos around using tampons in China. The differences between Fémme and products in the West highlight the fact that different approaches are needed in different cultures. These are all steps in the right direction, but we need to go further. We need more branding that educates everyone about periods – men too. We need more different types of menstruating humans represented in period ads that contain words such as ‘vagina’, ‘bleeding’ or ‘stain’. We need campaigns showing that this natural process, which sustains human life, is not something to be ashamed of, but that not being ashamed doesn’t necessarily mean we want to go on zipwires or climb mountains. And we also need to clear up once and for all, that there is absolutely nothing blue about menstrual blood. This article originally featured in Computer Arts issue 271. Buy it here. Read more: 7 classic logos that should never have been changed Why controversial UKIP logo falls on the branding sword How to challenge brand stereotypes 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 the distraction-eliminating writing app, BlankPage. There are tons of word processors to choose from, but sometimes you just need to get down to the craft and do away with the bells and whistles. BlankPage is a lightweight and powerful tool for writers that provides a perfect workspace to just write. Get a lifetime subscription on sale today for 94% off the retail price – and take an additional 20% off when you use the coupon code SOFTWARE20 at the checkout. BlankPage is an absolutely essential tool for any writer. This word processor provides everything you need to write the way you want to and nothing more. This app helps block out all of the distractions on your computer, from items on your messy desktop to websites that steal your attention, and helps you stay on task by helping you set and meet daily writing goals. Work in the quiet and controlled environment you need to get things done with BlankPage. You can get a lifetime subscription BlankPage on sale now for just $24.99 (approx £19). Reduced from the full retail price of $499, that's a saving of 94% off the retail price for a handy app that makes writing easy. Plus, you can save an additional 20% off by entering the coupon code SOFTWARE20 at the checkout. Grab this great 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 Offer tag page. Plus, you can get in touch with any feedback at: deals@creativebloq.com. Related articles: The best Black Friday deals 2017 20 tools to make your team more productive 55 best free fonts for designers View the full article

The news keeps on coming from Adobe MAX 2017. We've already heard from the premiere creativity and design conference that HP has edged further into the creative space with the launch of a Surface rival, and now Adobe has announced a collaboration with Coca-Cola. Called Cola x Adobe x You, the campaign sees Coca-Cola provide the world's largest creative community with full access to its unique brand assets, including the Coca-Cola Spencerian script and the Coca-Cola dynamic ribbon, to create your own designs with. As part of the partnership, 15 creative professionals from Spain to Germany, South Africa to Japan, have developed an inspiring selection of art based on the Coca-Cola assets. But now that the assets have been opened up, everyone is invited to create their own art inspired by Coca-Cola, using Adobe Creative Cloud. Get Adobe Creative CloudWhat's more, for every submission received by 17 December 2017, Coca-Cola will donate to the Special Olympics. Birgit Palma's illustration is subtle but effective“With this collaboration, we’re pleased to bring Adobe’s global creative community together for the opportunity to participate in a brief with an influential brand such as Coca-Cola,” says Jamie Myrold, vice president of design at Adobe. “Every submission contributes toward our shared vision of designing for good, which is at the forefront of what we do every day.” The collaboration has been driven by the pair's shared values of design, quality and brand integrity. In an increasingly multi-sensory world, Adobe and Coca-Cola want to challenge the design and creative communities to reimagine what it means to push themselves to the limits. Tia Huang used Coca-Cola assets to create this adorable feline illustration“Design has been at the heart of Coca-Cola for 130 years," says James Sommerville, vice president of global design at The Coca-Cola Company. "With Tokyo 2020 as the stage, we are thrilled to collaborate with Adobe, and share our most beloved visual assets with designers and creatives everywhere. Whether you’re an established pro, or an aspiring artist, this opportunity is for everyone.” If you want to take part in Coke x Adobe x You, simply head over to the campaign's site and download the Coca-Cola brand assets to get started. From there, you'll need to create your art on an Adobe Creative Cloud app (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects and now Lightroom, among them) and share your masterpiece on Instagram, Behance or Twitter with the hashtag #cokexadobexyou. The campaign is a perfect chance for creatives in graphic design, photography, motion graphics, 3D, or illustration to share their work and help contribute to a worthy cause, so be sure to get involved. [Header image by Kouhei Nakama] Related articles: 95 top Photoshop tutorials 21 outstanding uses of colour in branding Branding pros share how they nail brand voice View the full article

When learning how to draw a still life artwork, it's important to create interest and engage the viewer with a variety of flavours. Colourful sprinkles on a doughnut like this will certainly catch the eye, but what makes someone stop and continue engaging with the piece? If you're working realistically like this, research and the process of acquiring the objects is a vital first step. In this case that meant a visit to the best doughnut shop in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Huron Bakery. Looking at the contrasts between your props should guide the still life set-up. If something is dark, put it against something light, and vice versa. Play pattern against solid areas and look for repetitions to move the eye across the composition. Once the objects are organised, pick up a camera to look at viewpoint and cropping. Taking a photo is an alternative to sketching thumbnails, and does the double duty of providing a reference from which to work. You never know when a hungry kid will run into your studio and grab that carefully positioned doughnut! Keep the still life set up in position as you draw it, allowing you to go between your photo and real life objects to observe and develop accuracy of colour and depth. Watch the (rather long, sorry) video above to see how this doughnut still life was created, or follow the steps below to help you create your own deliciously textured pencil art. To create this artwork I used Prismacolor Premier (wax-based) coloured pencils on 100lb Vellum Bristol paper. My X-ACTO knife also came in useful for lightening areas of the waxy pencils. 01. Sketch your preliminary drawing Develop a contour drawing using a pencil, not graphite With a coloured pencil that will blend into the form, develop a contour drawing of the subject on Vellum Bristol or similarly heavyweight paper. I avoid using graphite as it can show through the transparency of the coloured pencils and overly grey or darken tones. If you worry about mistakes, or naturally use a sketchier line, consider working out the drawing on separate paper and transferring it to the final Bristol surface with a light box. 02. Capture patterns in the wood Create the darker wood patterns with Burnt Ochre and Light Umber Colours will vary for other varieties of wood, but here I start by creating the darker pattern of the wood grain with Burnt Ochre and Light Umber. Look for differences in edge and tone. The lower-right corner is darkened with a layer of Tuscan Red to begin establishing a reference point for the image. 03. Establish local colour Add a gradient across the table surface With normal pressure, apply beige and Yellow Ochre pencils over the entire table surface to create a gradient of light to midtone (left to right). I also add Clay Rose to the shadows and some of the stripes in the wood grain. To darken some of the cast shadows, I repeat step 2, while adding dark brown to the mixture. I layer dark green over the corner to increase its value range. 04. Build dark tones Avoid pure black for creating darker tones A layer of Indigo Blue completes the dark values of the lower corner. Rather than using black, layers of Tuscan Red, dark green and Indigo Blue create a far more complex tone. The wood grain becomes more visible and the cast shadows darken through the application of Yellow Ochre or Burnt Ochre. A colourless blender helps smooth the shadow tones. In the light areas of the wood, I burnish with cream and Yellow Ochre, solidifying the gradation of light on the table. 05. Draw white shadows Burnishing the paper bag with white helps smooth the tones Putting a layer of Cloud Blue down before the other shadow colours on the bag creates a barrier between the paper and the layers of Jade Green, Clay Rose and Greyed Lavender that I mix into the bag shadows. Reflected from the surrounding wood and orange juice tones, light applications of peach, light peach and cream warm up the grey side plane of the bag. Burnishing the bag with white helps smooth the tones. I work with the cream and Greyed Lavender pencils to create depth inside the bag and reveal a little translucency as it rests on the wooden table. The doughnut shadows on the napkin reach a darker contrast through layers of dark brown, Dahlia Purple, Clay Rose and Greyed Lavender. 06. Add paper textures Treat each dot on the napkin as an illuminated bowl Using 30% Cool Grey, Jade Green, Greyed Lavender, Cloud Blue and touches of cream, I develop the high key values and planar changes on top of the bag. Cream neutralises the lavender colour a little and warms up the halftones. With the napkin, I first look at the light affecting the whole surface. I create a gradient across the napkin (from top to bottom) with cream, Greyed Lavender, Cloud Blue and 30% Cool Grey. Using Greyed Lavender, Cloud Blue and 10% and 30% Cool Grey, I add dots to the napkin. View each as an illuminated bowl, working with dark on one side, drawing around the outside with grey and lavender, leaving a highlight opposite the dark. 07. Shape the glass Cover the highlights in white in case you need to scrape off excess dark tones later Focusing on the darkest shapes in the base of the glass, I draw with Dark Umber, 50% Warm Grey and a touch of Blue Indigo. To save the white highlights, I outline their shapes with 20% Warm Grey and add a layer of Goldenrod around them, which becomes an undertone for the base. Mixtures of Jade Green and 20% Warm Grey can dull the Goldenrod slightly as needed. Increase the pressure and burnish with white to finalise the smoothness of the tones. I place small moments of higher saturation colours (Light Cerulean Blue, orange and Light Aqua) along the edges of the bright highlights to capture the prism effect of the glass. Moving to the rim of the glass, I outline the contours with dark green and Light Umber. Follow the inner edge to the outer edge and watch your contours twist across the rim. The highlights are covered in white to aid in removing any dark tones that encroach on the shape too much. This is done with an X-ACTO knife if necessary, by lightly scraping the wax from the surface of the paper. The white pencil creates a barrier between the paper and the dark colours. Be sensitive to the quality of the edge. Sharp, firm, soft, or lost edges can all happen along the rim. I do not want a uniform colouring book outline and try to let the line stay responsive to the subject. 08. Create the juice surface Take care to capture the various tones in the juice surface The rim is darkened with more pressure and the green neutralised with Steel Grey, Jade Green and Light Umber. Goldenrod and Sand is used to develop the yellow tones seen in the rim. With the orange juice, I note that the surface layer has a ring of cooler temperature surrounding a slightly more saturated middle. To develop that subtle contrast, I use light pressure with 10% Cool Grey blending with Yellow Ochre around a middle of Sunburst Yellow. Canary Yellow is the base layer and Burnt Ochre the darkening pencil as the juice in the lower half of the glass develops. Goldenrod, Yellow Ochre, Sunburst Yellow are laid over top to create the gradation down the glass. I burnish the juice with Yellowed Orange. Note the higher saturation between the liquid level and darker tones. Sand is used to create the translucent brighter tone at the liquid level. 09. Plan for reflections Draw the doughnut reflection lightly to start off... I draw the reflection of the doughnut in the glass very lightly with Goldenrod to ensure the contour edges blend into the darker ground. I lay down Goldenrod, Burnt Ochre and Sunburst Yellow to begin the rendering, 10% Cool Grey and Sand are used on the tall reflection to the left side of the glass. 10. Colour the reflection ...then work in the details, being careful not to overdo it Filling in the reflection, I introduce small colour variation to the sprinkles. It is important to keep them all within the yellow-orange colour space of the orange juice. Too much hue contrast and the sprinkles will no longer read as reflections on the glass surface. 11. Create the doughnut undertone Draw in your doughnuts' undertone in Tuscan Red Using Tuscan Red, I lay in an undertone that begins to establish the local colour and value contrast on the doughnuts. While I can render a little more form on the left doughnut, I opt for a flat two-value contrast on the more complex sprinkle doughnut. 12. Put the icing on top Divide the highlights, midtones and shadow areas of the icing To achieve the subtle variations of colour in the icing, divide the highlights, midtones and shadow areas. I use dark brown and Burnt Ochre pencils in the midtones, and Terra Cotta and orange when more warmth and saturation is needed for the form. Where it needs to go really dark, Indigo Blue and dark green fill out the last step or two of value range. For the cooler temperature colours, I take a 30% Warm Grey to neutralise the saturation of the Tuscan Red. The warmer (more orange) halftones around the middle also have white applied to smooth over the texture. Greyed Lavender and Sienna Brown or Jade Green work well to dull the saturation of the Tuscan Red in the highlight areas. Use a colourless blender to smooth the chocolate, especially when beginning to contrast with the cake texture. I also begin laying orange and Goldenrod over the cake part to establish an undertone that mixes with subsequent shading. 13. Use strong transitions for shine Focus on making strong transitions from the midtones to the highlights Like darker skin tones, there are fewer light halftones on the chocolate surface. I focus on making strong transitions from the midtones to the highlights, and finalise the rendering of the left doughnut. The second doughnut is next in line to receive additional form and shading with the Tuscan Red pencil. For more contrast, I also darken the corner behind the glass with dark brown and Sienna Brown. 14. Finish off the icing Finish off the icing before you start on the sprinklesReferencing the colours and contrast on the completed doughnut, I bring the sprinkle doughnut's chocolate icing to a conclusion with Tuscan Red, Sienna Brown, dark brown, Indigo Blue, Burnt Ochre, Clay Rose, Slate Grey and 20% Cool Grey. 15. Put the sprinkles on top Take plenty of breaks while working on those sprinklesI develop the cake part of the doughnuts with orange, Sienna Brown, Burnt Ochre, Light Umber, Dark Umber and Goldenrod. To create the sprinkles, I use Tuscan Red, Poppy Red, magenta, Deco Yellow, Canary Yellow, Clay Rose, 30% Warm Grey, True Green, Parrot Green, Indigo Blue, Hot Pink, Blush Pink, and Jade Green. Using a highlight or shadow tone on each sprinkle provides a cylindrical form, but can be mind-numbingly tedious. Be sure to take breaks and give each one some attention. Scratching highlights out with an X-ACTO knife (sgraffito technique) is an option, or you can draw around the highlights and save the white of the paper. This article originally appeared in Paint & Draw issue 10. Buy it here. Related articles: How to blend coloured pencils Sharpen your still life painting skills Drawing techniques: 7 fundamentals of pencil drawing View the full article