Have you been eagerly awaiting your acceptance letter to Hogwarts? This month, you can finally step into the magical world of the wizarding school and its spellbinding surroundings with Hogwarts Legacy. Or, you could investigate a mysterious shifting manor filled with puzzles in Blue Prince, continue the nostalgic narrative adventure of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage with Tape 2, or golf your heart away in EA Sports PGA Tour. There’s plenty to choose from in April’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup*. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 and Blue Prince are both releasing day one into Game Catalog, with Blue Prince available to play April 10, and Bloom & Rage Tape 2 available April 15. EA Sports PGA Tour will also be playable April 10, while all other titles will be playable from April 15.Meanwhile, PlayStation Plus Premium welcomes survival horror Alone in the Dark 2 from the original PlayStation and PS2’s kaiju-filled fighting brawler War of the Monsters. PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium | Game Catalog View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Hogwarts Legacy | PS4, PS5 Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. Embark on a journey through familiar and new locations as you explore and discover magical beasts, customize your character and craft potions, master spell casting, upgrade talents and become the wizard you want to be. Experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Discover the feeling of living at Hogwarts as you make allies, battle Dark Wizards and ultimately decide the fate of the wizarding world. Your legacy is what you make of it.  View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Blue Prince | PS5 Welcome to Mt. Holly, the mysterious manor with shifting rooms. In Blue Prince, you embark on a genre-defying experience, filled with a unique mix of mystery, strategy, and puzzles that weave together to create an unpredictable journey. As the heir of Mt. Holly, you have been tasked to explore its shifting halls in search of Room 46. Yet as your journey takes you further into the mansion’s depths, you start to discover that there is more lurking under the surface than a missing room. Investigate a past woven with the threads of blackmail, political intrigue, and the mysterious disappearance of a local children’s book author. The deeper you venture, the more you realize that the past is closer than it appears. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Lost Records: Bloom & Rage – Tape 2 | PS5 Dontnod’s latest narrative adventure takes you to a picturesque corner of Michigan in 1995, where lies the seemingly sleepy little town of Velvet Cove. Between dense woodlands and serene lakes, it’s a place where beauty meets the bizarre. The first episode, titled Bloom, was included in the Game Catalog in February. This new episode, titled Rage, continues and concludes the sisterhood’s adventure. As the story unfolds, the bonds forged through their growing friendship, their punk band, and the unexplained event that forever changed their lives are put to the ultimate test. Navigate between dual timelines – 1995 and 2022 – to uncover the life-changing secrets they discovered back then and understand why they’re reuniting now, after all these years. Together, they must confront the fateful memories that have eluded them for the past 27 years. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image EA Sports PGA Tour | PS5 The exclusive home of the Majors, EA Sports PGA Tour features Pure Strike for superior golf gameplay and unrivaled access to the world’s most exclusive golf courses. As your golf game improves, so does your path to becoming a Major champion. Create and customize a golfer, develop your skill set with new Shot Types, gain deeper course knowledge as you play, and learn to attack every hole like a pro. The tee is yours at 30 courses, including some of the world’s most exclusive, designed in stunning quality with Frostbite so you can enjoy more of golf’s finer details than ever before. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Battlefield 1 | PS4 Experience the dawn of all-out war in Battlefield 1. Fight your way through epic battles ranging from tight urban combat in a besieged French city to the heavily defended mountain forts in the Italian Alps or frantic combats in the deserts of Arabia. Discover a world at war through an adventure-filled campaign, or join in epic multiplayer battles with up to 64 players, and adapt your tactics to the earth-shattering destruction and dynamic weather. Fight as infantry, lead horse charges or take control of amazing vehicles on land, air and sea, from tanks and biplanes to the gigantic Behemoths – some of the largest vehicles in Battlefield history. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image PlateUp! | PS4, PS5 PlateUp! combines chaotic kitchen and restaurant management with strategic planning and development to create a delightful roguelite dish unlike any other. Up to four players build and run a restaurant from scratch, choosing dishes, buying and placing appliances – some of which can be daisy-chained together to create ambitious automatic kitchens – cooking food and serving customers. Players have free rein to design their restaurant which will expand and develop between shifts – with additional content and challenges unlocked through progression. Equip your restaurant to handle the most fickle of customers and deliver them what they need, right when they need it. PlayStation Plus Premium View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image Alone in the Dark 2 | PS4, PS5 The sequel to the critically acclaimed Alone in the Dark has Edward Carnby dive into another mystery. This classic survival horror-game, initially released in 1993 on the original PlayStation, is playable on PS5 for the first time. View and download image Download the image close Close Download this image War of the Monsters | PS4, PS5 Giant monsters have stormed the planet, and they’re fighting each other for supremacy. In War of the Monsters, choose your own mutant brute (or armored robot, or giant lava beast) then battle it out across 13 destructible battlegrounds. This PlayStation 2 classic from 2003 looks stunning in HD and features full trophy support – including an all-important platinum.  Because this title does not support PlayStation 2 peripherals, there may be times where the game plays differently to the original, or where some features may not be available. *PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and PlayStation Plus Premium/Deluxe lineups may differ by region. Please check PlayStation Store on release day.

On Saturday, Bungie is slated to premiere the first gameplay reveal of Marathon, the studio’s upcoming team-based extraction shooter suspected to be released sometime later this year. Marathon is not only Bungie’s first non-Destiny project in more than a decade, but the first new entry in the Marathon franchise in the nearly three decades since 1996’s Marathon Infinity. With so much excitement and attention buzzing around Bungie’s latest game, audiences unfamiliar with the franchise might appreciate a quick way to get up to speed on this universe and the events leading up to its latest installment. If you don’t feel like playing through the original trilogy (which is available to play for free on Steam), you can check out this sleek, well-produced breakdown of Marathon produced by YouTuber Jake The Alright and video editor Michael Veselovsky (aka vslvsk) to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary last year. In just over 15 minutes, Jake details over 10 centuries worth of lore and backstory, including the reign of a technologically advanced race of ancient aliens known as the Jjaro, the machinations of a powerful alien empire known as the Pfhor, the events of 1994’s Marathon and 1994’s Marathon: Durandal, and a fateful encounter between a Jjaro diplomat and President Bill Clinton. It’s a lot of information, but the video does a terrific job of sifting through the minutiae and delivering the straight facts concerning the stakes of Marathon’s universe. If you, like me, didn’t experience the Marathon franchise during its initial peak, Jake The Alright’s video is a great way of bringing yourself up to speed with all things Marathon just in time before Bungie’s big event on Saturday. It’s also worth watching if you count yourself as a fan of the Halo series, as many of the ideas and themes present in that series (ancient alien technology manipulated by fanatical empires, rampant artificial intelligences, soldiers wearing “Mlojnir” armor, etc.) were first explored by Bungie through the Marathon games.  If you have trouble with the video’s bright green aesthetic and flashy black bitmap visuals, don’t worry; Jake and Veselovsky have put together a companion website that allows you to scrub through the events of the Marathon timeline at your leisure. And if you want to get really deep in the weeds, you can check out Marathon mega-fan Hamish Sinclair’s Story Page, which has been keeping the lore of the series’ universe straight as far back as 1995! Now that’s some dedication.

While data-driven tech companies often boast a range of spaces within mega headquarters, these can feel little more than hodgepodge. For the first dedicated Berlin office of Miro, the architects at M Moser Associates designed a community hub with an emphasis on teamwork. The office is filled with touches that celebrate the artistic expression that abounds in Germany’s capital. “Berlin is such a layered and creative city, where every person leaves their mark, just like Miro’s platform allows individuals to make their own signature or symbols,” says Ella Cain, associate designer at M Moser Associates and project lead. Inspired by Berlin’s spirit of nonconformity, the 27,000-square-foot workplace highlights the building’s industrial character. Exposed ceilings and concrete have a slightly rough look that adds a touch of edginess. Halfway through the project, a company-wide rebrand was an unexpected challenge. The designers decided to weave playful detailing throughout in the signature yellow, purple, and blue. Miro icons bring a playful touch to surfaces. Triangles, circles, and arrows are formed into bright lights or plaques that decorate the walls. A highlight is the 45-foot mural in the multipurpose event space. Created by local artist and illustrator Vidam, it features the illustrator’s signature characters (on laptops, of course) and vibrant urban scenes in a pop-surrealistic style. This one-of-a-kind artwork not only reflects the essence of Berlin, it also complements Miro’s corporate identity. With insights gleaned from M Moser’s work on Miro’s Amsterdam office, completed in 2022, there was a move away from fixed typologies and a focus on flexibility. Designed to accommodate up to 120 employees, there are seamless transitions from the main public areas to focus-driven zones. Visitors can sit on sofas beneath the mural, while staff members can brainstorm in co-working sectors and collaboration spaces. Acoustic felt panels and mesh tenting provide some separation, yet still retain an airy feel. A library area, first introduced in the Netherlands branch, was enhanced here. Instead of a nook with books placed on shelves, this tucked-away spot is surrounded by lush greenery. It’s a place to relax or savor a quiet moment away from the main floor, which offers an unexpected sensory experience via biophilia. By introducing variety across the plan, and interspersing sections for working and meeting, the workspace offers personalization for these employees. “This office is a place of connection that feels timeless, but it is very much bespoke for the local team,” Cain notes. For more on Miro and M Moser Associates, visit mmoser.com. Photography by Chris Wharton.

26 Things Any Designer Should KnowAs someone who has called himself a designer for the better part of my existence, I’d like to share 26 things that have helped me hone my craft, expand my understanding of design, and grow both personally and professionally in the field.Of course, there are more than 26 things that should be included in a list like this. These may not even be the most groundbreaking things to pay attention to. But for the sake of making a nifty A–Z list that is clickbaity enough to spark interest on this platform—and also gets to feature my wife’s beautiful artwork—this will have to suffice.AccessAAfter nearly 15 years in this industry, it has become quite apparent to me that design has a problem we rarely talk about. Access. It is the unspoken entry ticket to the design world — a baseline that’s often taken for granted by those already practising in the field. Let’s talk about the basic requirements to even enter this industry; A functioning laptop, decent software, a stable internet connection. While these might seem basic to most of us, they represent the first barrier between talent and opportunity, and they are unfortunately things that are still inaccessible to millions of people.Beyond tools and technology, access to people, networks, and institutions shapes what opportunities even appear on your horizon. If you’re a young designer, take stock of the access you currently have and consider how you can expand it — whether through seeking out mentors, resources, or communities that can help open doors or provide opportunities to learn and work. If you’re a seasoned designer, think about how you can expand access for those who lack it.BrandB Understanding branding goes way beyond the realm of graphic design, and is a lot more than just logos and bleak guideline documents. Brands—especially good ones—are great at turning intangible things like values, emotions, aspirations, and motivations, into tangible things that you can feel, touch, see, hear, smell, or even taste. (One of my favourite books about the subject is Brand Sense. Check it out!). Brand is a bridge between psychology and design. Whether you’re starting a new restaurant, dropping a new clothing line, introducing a new agronomy service to smallholder farmers, creating a new product at a legacy insurance company, moving your company into a new geography, or even positioning yourself to a potential employer, understanding the basics of branding can help you connect with people on a deeper level.Some of my most rewarding projects have been helping organisations understand that their brand exists in every interaction, every touchpoint, every moment. Brands can influence how people perceive and interact with products, services, and experiences, making this an essential skill across any design discipline.Collaboration Co-DesignC Great design seldom happens in isolation. Even if you’re an incredibly talented individual, collaborating with others—whether they’re fellow designers, developers, clients, artists, just people in general—is guaranteed to elevate your work. Bringing in diverse skills and perspectives can transform a good idea into a groundbreaking one—just ask any jazz musician. Think about any successful company or product out there; rarely is it the work of a lone genius.This philosophy reaches its fullest expression in co-design, where your clients, customers, or “users” become active participants rather than passive subjects. Co-design flips the traditional power dynamic, recognising that the people who will use our solutions often have the most valuable insights to offer. Projects completely transform when you invite community members to the design table as equals — their lived experience cutting through assumptions that the design team often aren’t aware of. Some of my most impactful projects have been the result of our teams creating the conditions for others to contribute their expertise and experience to shape solutions. Embrace designing with, not for in your future endeavours.Design ThinkingD Ah yes, the ex-IDEO guy shilling his IDEO Kool-Aid all over this blog post. Hear me out. Yes, Design Thinking has become a ubiquitous corporate buzzword, and today, it is both revered and reviled by design practitioners. In recent years, it’s been turned into a sort of punching bag by an industry looking for the next big thing, calling it a failed experiment, total bullshit, syphilis, or worse — a tool of white supremacy.To me, design thinking is akin to the scientific method (notice the lack of caps on these terms). It’s a way of approaching discovery, experimentation, and problem-solving, and it’s a basic process that any designer should have experience with. It’s not a magic bullet or a one-size-fits-all solution, but rather a tool that’s effectiveness depends entirely on the skill and intent of the practitioner (much like any other tool). Used thoughtfully, it helps ensure that you’re designing the right solution for the right audience. Misused, it can feel like a shallow or performative check-box activity. Treat it as one of many tools in your toolbox as a designer. Remember, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.EmpathyE Design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about solving real problems. To create solutions that resonate, empathy — genuine, deep understanding — is essential. Yet, much like design thinking, empathy is often misunderstood and reduced to tokenistic research or checklist tasks (“we’re in the empathy phase”). True empathy in design goes beyond just imagining what people might want — it requires genuine curiosity about human behaviour and a willingness to challenge your own biases.True empathy involves spending time with people, observing their behaviours, understanding their fears and motivations, and very importantly, listening without jumping to solutions. It mandates setting your ego aside throughout the entire design process (and, I’d argue, throughout life) and being humble enough to be open to insights that may clash with your worldview. Without empathy, design risks becoming an exercise in self-expression rather than problem-solving.FeedbackF Feedback is the lifeblood of good design. No matter how talented you are, it’s unlikely that you wield all the answers, and fresh perspectives from peers, clients, customers, or even total strangers can reveal blind spots that you may have been oblivious to. Feedback ensures your designs are grounded in reality rather than just your own assumptions or tastes. Early in my career, learning to seek and accept constructive criticism (without being defensive) was easier said than done. But building the habit of seeking feedback, even for small things, builds a muscle, tempers your ego (a recurring theme, really), and helps you avoid becoming overly attached to your work. It’s one of the fastest and best ways to grow.Learn to ask the right questions, and seek specific, actionable feedback, rather than vague impressions, or empty platitudes. Design thrives in the space between your ideas and the world’s reactions to them. Feedback, when embraced, makes that space richer.GestaltG Gestalt principles are a graphic designer’s secret weapon. Earlier when discussing brand, I mentioned how design connects psychology with tangible experiences, and Gestalt principles help make that connection a bit more concrete. Rooted in psychology, they explain how we organise visual information and perceive the world around us. Essentially, they reveal the “why” behind things that feel intuitive, using concepts like proximity, similarity, continuity, and symmetry, to teach us how the mind seeks order and patterns. But I’d argue they’re not just useful to graphic designers making clever logos or polished print layouts — they apply to everything from how we tell stories to how we organise as communities. Of course, it’s also a really great way to learn how to make better slides (if that’s the sort of thing you do a lot of). Mastering these principles can help you craft solutions that feel well considered, and simple to understand, no matter the medium.HierarchyH This isn’t about org charts or team structures—that’s a point for another post. Hierarchy isn’t just a graphic design term; it’s the silent guide that helps people effortlessly navigate your work. Ever tried reading a restaurant menu that makes everything seem equally important? Nightmare. Of course, this is most obvious for graphic, UX, UI, and interaction designers, but again, applies to many more disciplines. To understand hierarchy is to understand structure, and ways to create clarity and efficiency in the work you do. It allows you to focus on what matters, while letting supporting details sit quietly in the background.When hierarchy works well, it’s almost invisible—people just naturally find what they’re looking for. The principles used in graphic design about visual hierarchy translate surprisingly well to service design, where we need to think about how people navigate through entire experiences. If everything is screaming for attention, nothing gets heard.InspirationI One of the most important aspects of being a designer is finding inspiration that helps you to create and imagine. It’s tempting to romanticise sudden flashes of brilliance that strike when you’re in a creative rut, or “aha” moments when you least expect them, but in reality, inspiration is often something that is cultivated over time. Design is, at its core, an act of seeking—exposing yourself to ideas, art, culture, technology, and people outside your immediate bubble.“Aha” moments often happen because you’ve put yourself in a state of active engagement with the world around you. Pinterest and Behance are great, but they can quickly turn into echo chambers or overused trends. True inspiration often comes from unexpected inputs — conversations with people you wouldn’t usually talk to, exploring unfamiliar environments, or simply closing your laptop and doing something else.JargonJ Wow, really? Jargon made it to this list? Hear me out, again. Think of it like traveling to a new country — learning a few key phrases, slang, or cultural norms naturally gives you an edge. It helps you navigate unfamiliar spaces and connect with the locals. The same goes for jargon in any industry. I used to cringe (I still do sometimes) at words like “ideate” or terms like “opportunity areas,” but quickly learned that these didn’t exist to obfuscate meaning, but rather to create a shared language for the sake of efficiency.Jargon definitely gets a bad rap, and more often than not is labelled as a way to sound smart without actually saying much. For the most part, I agree with this. When used sparingly and purposefully, however, it actually helps you connect with others in your field. As long as you’re using it to communicate with intention and clarity, go for it. However, if you need to circle back to move the needle on some low-hanging fruit, then I’d suggest you put a pin in it, and take this offline for a bit.KerningK Yes, I’m that designer who gets excited (and frustrated) about the exact spaces between letters. While kerning might seem like a niche topic that no normal person should care about, it represents a much bigger point: attention to detail. Just as we discussed with hierarchy and Gestalt principles, good kerning is about understanding how tiny adjustments can significantly improve a design.Whether you end up specialising in typography or not, developing an eye for subtle details in your craft is what will set you apart from others. It’s about training yourself to notice what others might miss. The ability to zoom in and focus on the tiniest of details is a skill that is universally appreciated, and something that translates to everything from user research to brand to designing service blueprints.LearningL The world of design, the tools, the trends, the jargon, the industry as a whole is in a state of constant evolution, and learning should not be something that stops the moment you graduate from university. The same openness and curiosity that is vital for doing good design should extend to our own professional development and growth. The best designers (and people) I know are lifelong learners, constantly looking for ways to pick up new skills, try new things, or even challenge their existing ways of working. To have curiosity about the world around you is an invaluable trait to have as a designer. It helps you make better connections, understands problems with more depth, and appreciate the range of skills and people required to make any decent system work. In the over-quoted words of Steve Jobs, “Stay hungry, stay foolish”.MindsetM All the technical skills in the world won’t help you if you don’t cultivate the right mindset around your work. This builds directly on the previous points of learning and empathy — design requires a particular mental approach. The most prolific designers I’ve worked with share certain traits: they stay curious, embrace uncertainty and feedback, and view constraints as creative opportunities rather than limitations. A growth mindset makes you a better collaborator because you’re open to others’ perspectives and willing to learn from every interaction. When facing complex challenges, it often determines whether you’ll push through to find new, innovative solutions or fall back on safe, conventional answers. Nothing fires up a designer (myself included) more than when a client says something “can’t be done”.NetworkN The idea of “networking” makes a lot of us feel physically sick—awkward events, small talk, cold emails, forced optimism. Building a network is less about collecting profiles on LinkedIn like Pokémon, but more about building real, meaningful relationships with people. Over the years, I’ve come to learn how a solid network can become one of your most valuable resources. Some of my most interesting projects have come through casual conversations or following up with people I’ve collaborated with (or even just spoken to) in the past. It’s no industry secret, but a lot of jobs are filled through the recommendations of people in trusted networks, rather than through direct applications through a company’s website or hiring portal.Put yourself out there, and don’t just reach out to people when you need something from them. Invest in genuine personal and professional relationships, and they’ll pay off in ways you can’t predict.ObservationO Simple observation is a severely underrated skill and research methodology in design. It’s easy to get stuck behind a screen, relying on secondhand information, someone else’s research and assumptions, or even just trying to make sense of faceless raw data. The advent of AI and GPTs are furthering this trend. However, you can learn so much from just stepping out into the real world and observing how people actually live in, and interact with their environment.Spending my days observing people in office cafeterias, schools, parks, hospitals, and farms have all taught me more than any online research or reading ever could. Paying attention to how people move, their body language, the small frustrations they encounter, the hacks they invent to make things work—it’s super valuable information to process and integrate into your design solutions.PlayP Play is not the opposite of ‘hard work’. In fact, adults engaging in play, especially in traditional work settings, can feel incredibly hard to do. But in design, play is essential. It’s one of the surest ways to get out of boring, hyper-rational ways of thinking. It encourages creativity and collaboration, and allows people to make mistakes without the fear or judgement. If you watch children play (or invent) games, you’ll notice how imagination often sits at the core of it. Play with your colleagues (and clients) with no clear goals in mind—tinker with tools, share impractical ideas with each other, laugh. Follow the weird thoughts and see where they take you. More often than not, they lead to exciting new ideas. And even when they don’t, they often break down social barriers and create stronger bonds between teams.Check out this fantastic article by my ex-colleague, Michelle Lee, to read more about play at work.Quiet TimeQ Okay, collaboration and networking and design thinking workshops etc. can all end up being quite overwhelming. Remember to give yourself a break every now and then. Even as a somewhat extroverted person, I need time alone to recharge, reflect, and focus on deep work. Space to decompress, creatively recharge, or even just wander off in my own thoughts.And while quiet time during the day or a week is important, I would also advocate for taking some ‘quiet time’ during your career when possible. Whether it’s a break between jobs or a taking a sabbatical, a pause can help you reset, gain clarity, and reconnect with what truly matters to you. In a world that constantly demands our attention, sometimes the best move is to simply step away.RigourR Creativity thrives on spontaneity, but good design also demands a level of discipline. Having a rigorous approach means that you’re willing to spend time with hard problems, question assumptions, try multiple solutions, and constantly work towards refining your work.I’ve been the victim of complacency many times during my career, and I often see how this also affects younger design students and professionals. When you allow yourself to be satisfied with shallow or careless work, and get positive feedback for the same, you begin to stagnate as a professional. It’s important to develop your own high standards for your work if someone else isn’t doing it for you and look for ways to constantly improve yourself and the work you do.StorytellingS Again, I probably have a bias, but I believe storytelling is one of the most important skills to have as a designer. There are times when “good design should speak for itself” is a valid mantra, but even great ideas can fall flat if people don’t understand of connect with them. Storytelling helps bridge a gap between intent (on the side of the designer) and understanding (on the side of the audience). Being able to craft a compelling story can help you communicate your observations and insights with more resonance, create structure and clarity to something that is messy or hard to understand, or help you paint a vision for something that does not currently exist.Creating an emotional connection with your work can unlock both followers and funders, and spell the difference between an idea that is shelved or one that gets to see the light of day.TutorialsT Virtually every skill I have today, from how to use the entire Adobe Suite, to adding numbers on a spreadsheet, to making a fantastic pourover coffee, to playing a complex Jamiroquai bassline, I’ve learned by binge-watching tutorials at 2 a.m. At my first ever client meeting (at 18 years of age), I convinced someone that I could make a 100 page book on InDesign. After securing the gig, I spent the next three days on YouTube learning how to use InDesign. Today, with AI tools like Midjourney and ChatGPT reshaping the whole design industry, watching fellow explorers push the boundaries, and learning from them is invaluable.The internet has democratised learning, and YouTube is one of the single-best platforms on the planet to boost your education and constantly stay ahead of what’s going on in the world. And yes, falling asleep with the autoplay on still counts as learning (at least subconsciously).User ExperienceU UX is often misunderstood as something that just visual designers focus on. The truth is that everyone encounters UX daily. You will know this if you’ve ever wrestled with a “Norman Door” (those terribly designed doors that leave you pulling when you should push). Don Norman himself highlighted this universal frustration, which illustrates perfectly how good UX isn’t just digital — it’s everywhere.Every touchpoint a designer creates, whether it’s a website, service, or physical product, is ultimately about the experience of the person using it. When embracing empathy and observation into your practice, you will notice that bad user experiences are unfortunately way more common than they should be. Save humanity from pulling when they should push.VisionV Vision requires zooming out — way out — to see and articulate the big picture. As designers, we often live in the details (we’re called pixel pushers for a reason), but our real strength is balancing micro and macro views. Vision also gives us the courage and permission to push boundaries and explore new territory, a way to see beyond the current constraints.As a designer, being able to hold a big picture view of the work in front of you will help you see how multiple pieces fit together—how brand, UX, strategy, storytelling, all align to create something meaningful. Being able to present something visionary to an audience is what helps usher new ideas into the world.WorthW When I transitioned to being a full-time freelancer in my 30s, defining my worth felt absurdly daunting. How much do you charge for creativity? For insights and strategy? For a simple black and white logo? Honestly, I still grapple with pricing my work and the services I provide. But I’ve learned that undercharging for your work eventually puts you in a precarious position of undermining your confidence and the value of what you do.There will be people who can’t afford you, or will question whether working with you is “worth it” but being able to articulate the impact of your work helps others understand its worth too. It helps build your confidence, credibility and professionalism. There are no “right” answers to how much you should actually charge for design. Just make sure you aren’t leaving conversations feeling like you’re completely undervaluing yourself and your skills.eXcellenceX Excellence in design isn’t about perfection — it’s about the relentless pursuit of “better”. “Perfect is the enemy of good.” This ties back to everything we’ve discussed: the rigour to test and refine, the empathy to understand what truly matters to users, the vision to see new possibilities, and the worth to value quality work. Excellence means different things in different contexts, but it always involves going beyond the obvious solution to find the right solution. It’s about maintaining high standards while recognising that there’s always room for improvement.Design excellence is about setting a high standard for yourself and others you work with. It isn’t about falling down rabbit holes of achieving perfect solutions. It’s about making things that are high quality, thoughtful, and address actual needs.Yearly ReviewsY I hated doing annual reviews at IDEO. For more than a decade, this felt like a common fate that every employee had begrudgingly accepted, and it always felt like a bit of a waste of time. Yearly reviews in companies or schools often suck joy out of real, personal growth, focusing instead on other people’s agendas or KPIs. The problem with this is that you start seeing yourself as an extension of an institution or a company rather than an individual human being. You equate yearly goals and metrics to financial or title changes.The habit of regular reflection and goal-setting is crucial for long-term growth, however. Setting intentions and goals should be a deeply personal endeavour. It should align with how you want to grow, what you want to be doing more or less of, and what you’re excited to try.ZeitgeistZ Being aware of the cultural moment — the zeitgeist — is necessary for creating relevant design. This brings us full circle to the points around access and inspiration. Understanding the zeitgeist isn’t about blindly following trends; it’s about being tuned into the broader cultural, social, and technological currents that shape how people think and behave. Consume books, podcasts, and the news. Pay attention to where your inspiration comes from. And constantly build your bank of resources and references.But don’t stop there. Try to understand why a certain aesthetic or meme or social movement is resonating right now. What anxiety, hope, or deeper contradiction is it tapping into? Design doesn’t happen in a vacuum — it reflects (and sometimes critiques) the environment around it. As a designer, you’re both a participant and a translator of culture. You’re a sense-maker of the world.What I hope you take away from this isn’t just a collection of tips from an ageing designer, but an appreciation for the depth and breadth of what design truly encompasses.To any young designers reading this: your path will undoubtedly look different from mine. You’ll face challenges I never encountered and opportunities I couldn’t imagine. The design industry has been in a constant state of flux since the start of my career. But I hope these reflections offer some guideposts as you chart your own course through this endlessly fascinating (and evolving) profession.Now go forth and design!The A-Z of Design was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Start menu is the gateway to everything on a Windows PC, from files to apps to settings, and it looks as though Microsoft is planning a substantial refresh for the menu's interface. Changes have been spotted in the early testing versions of the operating system by tipster @phantomofearth, and should eventually appear for everyone.As it stands today, the Start menu shows a search bar up at the top, then you've got two other sections: Your pinned apps, and your recommended links (usually to files you've recently opened or apps you've recently used). Both those sections can be expanded with a click to show more programs and files. How the Start menu looks today. Credit: Lifehacker The version of the Start menu now in testing expands what you can see and access straight away. You get your pinned apps, your recommendations, and then a list of every app that's installed—this full app list no longer needs an extra click. This full list of programs can appear as a standard alphabetical list, as a grid grouped by app name, or as a grid grouped by category (a bit like the App Library on iOS).Further customization options available in the updated Start menu let you increase the size of the pinned app section, and remove the recommended section entirely—neither of those options were available before. It means a more flexible approach for users, and easier access to apps, at the expense of some extra screen space. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. The reaction to the upcoming changes seems to be mostly positive, especially when it comes to getting to the full Start menu list more quickly. You've still got the search box up at the top of the menu panel, so you can jump to specific apps if you know what you're looking for, but the revamped approach is more convenient.There's no word yet on when everyone is going to get these changes, but given how significant they are, Microsoft may well wait a while to refine the new interface approach. The version that ends up rolling out to everyone might not look like the screengrab I captured, which you can see at the top of this article.Testing out the new Start menuMost people will be content to sit tight and wait for the new Start menu to roll out officially, but if you're keen to test it out now, it's not too difficult to do. Bear in mind though that this does involve beta software and some additional hacking, so do this at your own risk—I wouldn't recommend doing this on a computer you rely on every day.First you need to join the WIndows Insider Program, which is free to do: You can do that on the web here by logging into the Microsoft account that's linked to your laptop or desktop. Follow the instructions on screen, and when you're redirected to the Windows Update section of Settings in Windows itself, choose the beta channel. The new Start menu can be set to just show apps. Credit: Lifehacker You should then shortly see new updates available to install, which will put the beta version of Windows 11 on your computer after a restart or two. This new Start menu isn't yet enabled in the beta channel though, even though it's been spotted inside the operating system code, so you need to apply some extra tweaks to get it working.Those tweaks can be applied with a third-party utility called ViVeTool, which you can download from here. When it's up and running on your system, click Advanced Options or press F12, and then enable the following features (as per instructions from @phantomofearth): 49221331, 47205210, and 49402389. If that doesn't work, try enabling 48433719 before the other three. There are additional settings attached to the new Start menu. Credit: Lifehacker After another restart, you should get your new Start menu, as well as the additional options—which you can find by opening Settings and choosing Personalization > Start. It's possible to turn off all the recommended and pinned items and just have your full list of installed apps if you want, which is reminiscent of the old Windows 8 approach.Having spent a few hours testing out the new Start menu, it certainly feels more comprehensive to me, with every app available straight away in an interface that doesn't feel too busy or cluttered. More customization options have to be welcomed as well: I can't see myself using the Category view much, for example, but it's easy enough to change.

Last year, Sony rebranded its portable speaker lineup under the ULT umbrella with new models classified as either Field or Tower. The former are the more "traditional" Bluetooth options while the latter are the party box, karaoke machine sort of devices. Just like 2024, the company has three new entries in the ULT lineup this time around with the ULT Field 3, ULT Field 5 and ULT Tower 9. Those first two fill the mid-range gap between the current ULT Field 7 and ULT Field 1 while the last item is a smaller alternative to the ULT Tower 10. The ULT Field 3 will replace the SRS-XE300. As the name suggests, Sony's ULT button is among the updates, a control that adds instant access to ULT1 mode for bass boost. The company also expanded the customizable EQ and added its Sound Field Optimization. Inside, a single woofer and a tweeter are angled slightly in the center while two passive radiators are positioned at the ends of the speaker. The ULT Field 3 works in both vertical and horizontal orientations where the XE300 was only vertical. There's a new Party Connect button to easily sync with other Sony speakers and you can charge your devices via the USB-C port. The company kept the 24-hour battery life the same as the XE300 but improved the quick-charge feature to give you two hours of use in 10 mins. The ULT Field 3 remains IP67 waterproof, dust proof and shock proof like its predecessor, however this new speaker is also rust proof. A removable shoulder strap is among the additions too, but there's one major item Sony retained. The ULT Field 3 is the same price at the XE300 at $200.  ULT Field 3 Sony The ULT Field 5 isn't quite at large as the ULT Field 7, but it's still hefty. This speaker will replace the SRS-XG300 in Sony's arsenal, clocking in at $330 — $20 less than that predecessor. Here you'll get a single woofer and two tweeters angled in the middle of the unit with passive radiators at either end. You'll also be able to use a second ULT mode, ULT2, that "emphasizes powerful sound" in addition to the ULT1 bass boost. A 10-band EQ and Sound Field Optimization help maintain sound quality and that new Party Connect button is on this larger speaker too. Like the ULT Field 3, you can use the ULT Field 5 in either vertical or horizontal positions, and similarly there's a removable shoulder strap.  Battery life remains up to 25 hours on the ULT Field 5, just like the XG300. Once again, Sony improved quick charging to give you 30 more minutes of use in a 10-minute session. This speaker has lights at the ends though, which can impact longevity. Sony says you'll reach that 25-hour mark using ULT modes with the lights off, but using both will drop that figure to 10 hours. There are three different light modes though, so there are options available. On the back of the ULT Field 5, there's a panel with aux input, USB-C charging in/out, a battery care button and a switch for the lights. That's protected by a sealed flap, which helps the speaker achieve its IP67 rating.  That brings us to the ULT Tower 9. The party box joins the ULT Tower 10 on Sony's current roster, replacing the SRS-XV900. Expanded EQ, Sound Field Optimization and two ULT modes are among the additions here, as are a redesigned handle and wheels for better portability. Sony improved the lighting for 360-degree projection as well as making the top control panel splash proof. Besides the Party Connect button from the new ULT Field speakers, the ULT Tower 9 has a dedicated option for a stereo pair. The top panel also houses controls for lighting, volume, power and two inputs for microphones (one of which can be used for a guitar).  ULT Tower 9 Sony Like the XV900, you can use Sony's TV Sound Booster feature to enhance living room audio on the ULT Tower 9. The speaker has that ULT button, which gives you two modes for either bass boost or "powerful sound." The driver arrangement inside includes four tweeters, two of which are pointing out the back of the speaker, along with two mid-range units and a single woofer. The wireless version of the ULT Tower 9 is the same price as its predecessor at $900, but Sony is also offering a wired option that must remain plugged into an outlet for $750. If you opt for wireless, battery life is the same on that Tower 9 as the ULT Field 5: up to 25 hours with only ULT mode and up to 10 hours with both ULT mode and lighting active.  Lastly, Sony revealed the ULT Mic, which is a $150 set of two wireless microphones and a transmitter that are designed to be used with the company's party speakers. This new accessory pack works with both the newer ULT Tower speakers in addition to the ULT Field 7. You can also use it with any older Sony speakers that support a microphone jack and receiver (like the XV900, XV800, XV500, XP700 and XP500). The mics are rechargeable with up to 20 hours of battery life and they feature a shock proof design. What's more, the company equipped these devices with noise reduction for hands, breath and wind, plus there's a Duet Assist tool to compensate for uneven vocal volumes.  The ULT Field 3, ULT Field 5, ULT Tower 9 and ULT Mic are all available now. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/sony-adds-three-more-speakers-to-its-ult-lineup-bass-boost-button-included-160008038.html?src=rss

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There is not much Josh Lockwood-Wewer loves more than Disney. The affable 33-year-old speaks almost exclusively in the voices of his favorite characters: Mickey Mouse, the Muppets’ Kermit the Frog, and, above all, Goofy. He has watched The Lion King nearly every day since its 1994 release—well over 5,000 times, according to his mother. His family moved from Maryland to Anaheim, California, when he was in his early 20s just to be closer to Disneyland. As an adult with severe autism, Lockwood-Wewer depends on around-the-clock support from multiple aides. His caregivers prepare his meals and watch as he eats to make sure he doesn’t choke. They drive him everywhere from doctor’s appointments to his favorite restaurant, a fast food joint called Paul’s Place where he orders two chicken tenders every time. And they administer his regimen of a dozen daily medications to control his psychosis, depression, and anxiety. Lockwood-Wewer can only afford that support thanks to publicly funded programs—In-Home Supportive Services and the Regional Center of Orange County—that fully cover his in-home care and community-based services, which would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. But that funding may soon be at risk under a proposal by Republican lawmakers that could slash as much as $880 billion from Medicaid over the next decade. Cuts of that magnitude would impact millions across the country and could be especially debilitating to low-income people with disabilities like Lockwood-Wewer, according to Beth Martinko, his mother and primary caretaker. She is one of many health care advocates who are now pressuring Republican lawmakers across the country to vote against Medicaid cuts that could be devastating for families and politically unpopular. In late February, Martinko spoke in front of more than 200 people at a packed town hall meeting in a Tustin community center. The event was organized by a coalition of health care advocacy groups working to pressure the district’s representative, Republican congresswoman Young Kim, to reject cuts to Medicaid. Attendees applauded as speakers stressed how integral Medicaid was to their families, and booed and yelled “shame!” when they mentioned Republicans’ proposed cuts. Beth Martinko speaks at a town hall meeting in Rep. Kim’s congressional district on Feb. 20. [Photo: Jeremy Lindenfeld/Capital & Main] Martinko lives just outside of that district, but 157,000 of Kim’s constituents are enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state-run Medicaid program, making the topic of federal funding cuts especially poignant.  Though the GOP’s budget resolution does not explicitly call for Medicaid cuts, it directs the committee that oversees the health care program to cut $880 billion, which would be impossible without cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicaid, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Medicaid is a government health insurance program that covers 83 million low-income people in the United States and has more beneficiaries than Medicare, which provides health insurance primarily to people 65 and older. Republicans have not released the exact cuts they are expected to vote on in the coming months, but an internal document obtained by Politico revealed several possibilities under consideration, including new requirements that beneficiaries provide proof of employment to receive benefits.  Some groups, like people with disabilities, could be exempt from those requirements, but that is little consolation to Martinko, who said her son would “fall out of network and die” before being able to make it through the complex and bureaucratic process of obtaining an exemption. Lockwood-Wewer would not be alone. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 36 million people across the country could lose their health insurance if Medicaid work requirements are implemented.  Both In-Home Supportive Services, which provides support for over 700,000 low-income Californians who have disabilities or who are 65 and older, and California’s 21 Regional Centers, nonprofits that coordinate services for individuals with developmental disabilities, largely depend on funding from Medicaid. Health care advocates fear Republicans’ proposed federal cuts would cause those California programs to be reduced or even eliminated. [Photo: Jeremy Lindenfeld/Capital & Main] It’s hard for Martinko to see how the family would manage without that support. When Lockwood-Wewer’s father died of lung cancer in 2013, Martinko quit her job to become her son’s full-time care provider. Two years later, the pair moved from Maryland to California, where they have benefited from robust state-run health care programs that rely heavily on Medicaid funding.  California’s federally subsidized programs for people with disabilities have enabled Lockwood-Wewer to stay healthy and safe while also developing his interests and professional skills. In-Home Supportive Services has provided funding for Martinko and other aides to maintain Lockwood-Wewer’s well being. The Regional Center of Orange County has fostered his love of animation by arranging voice acting training that prepares him for job opportunities and has coordinated theater classes that have provided him with a supportive social environment of peers.  Martinko said it took years to navigate the state’s complicated network of benefits to get her son approved for the assistance he needed. As a 71-year-old, two-time cancer survivor, she was constantly worried she would get sick again before being able to enroll her son in the necessary programs. So when it all finally came together last year, she was thrilled and relieved.  “I felt like I could die and he would be OK because he had this whole sustaining system,” Martinko said.  But when she learned that the GOP’s budget resolution threatened to upend Medicaid funding, she said it was “like somebody opened my front door and threw a grenade in.”  Martinko’s congressional representative, Democrat Lou Correa, voted against that Republican budget resolution and has repeatedly warned of the risks to people on Medicaid. That’s why Martinko, who is a registered Democrat, has focused her efforts on pressuring Republican House members, like Rep. Kim, who are more likely to support cutting health care programs.  If Medicaid cuts reduce his In-Home Supportive Services funding, Lockwood-Wewer would no longer be able to afford his at-home care. That would push his mother and other aides, like June Mekker, who first met the family when she was a Disneyland employee and who now lives with them, to look for other jobs. June Mekker, caregiver to Lockwood-Wewer, joins his mother in protesting Medicaid cuts at Rep. Young Kim’s office on March 18. [Photo: Jeremy Lindenfeld/Capital & Main] Mekker said she voted Republican “all the way down the ticket” in the 2024 election, believing Donald Trump’s promises to protect Medicare and Social Security extended to Medicaid as well. She now fears that might not be the case.  “I will feel very, very, very betrayed and disrespected,” Mekker said. “Everything in [Lockwood-Wewer’s] life would stop. I would have to go back to working a regular job, which means he wouldn’t get that support.” Because In-Home Supportive Services pays for Martinko’s full-time caregiving services, she depends on the program to afford their mortgage payment. If benefits are slashed and Martinko once again becomes too ill to work, Mekker said, the family could end up “on the street.” Mekker helps Lockwood-Wewer, who holds his stuffed bear named Marco, order lunch at his favorite local restaurant, Paul’s Place. [Photo: Jeremy Lindenfeld/Capital & Main] Republicans have pitched Medicaid cuts as a way to root out “waste, fraud, and abuse” from federal programs, but health care advocates like Jordan Lindsey, executive director of the disability advocacy nonprofit The Arc of California, said those politicians are being disingenuous.    “The cuts they are proposing are not designed with a scalpel to cut out waste and abuse. They’re just using a club,” Lindsey said. “Supporting a Californian with Down syndrome or cerebral palsy or profound autism to integrate into society is not waste and abuse.”  Republican attacks on Medicaid are nothing new, according to Gerald Kominski, senior fellow at UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research. Kominski attributes GOP lawmakers’ efforts to cut government benefits like Medicaid to a “deeply held resentment of government programs that support low-income individuals” and their desire to cut federal spending to pay for massive tax cuts for the wealthy. That could be a political vulnerability, however, as Kominski said many voters likely see that tradeoff as “blatant robbing from the poor to support the rich.” And even though “it doesn’t make sense politically,” Kominski said GOP lawmakers are seizing their moment of political power and charging ahead to follow through on their longstanding efforts to shrink the social safety net.  That vulnerability is what health care advocates are pouncing on by organizing events like the February town hall in Rep. Kim’s district. Martinko, who was among the first to speak at that forum, made an emotional plea for her son. She described him as the “embodiment of joy,” and spoke about his passion for Disney and for writing stories where “the heroes always win and the villains always lose.” Martinko then appealed directly to Rep. Kim. “I urge you to consider the faces behind the policies,” Martinko said. “Let’s come together to ensure that Medicaid funding remains intact, so that individuals like Josh continue to thrive, contribute and bring joy to our lives. You have the opportunity to be the hero in the most important story in Josh’s life.” Rep. Kim was invited to the event but did not attend. Five days later she voted in favor of the budget resolution that stands to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicaid.  [Photo: Jeremy Lindenfeld/Capital & Main] Rep. Kim’s office did not respond to an interview request but pointed to a previous statement posted on her website after the vote that said she understood the importance of Medicaid and that she would not vote for a budget that “does not protect vital Medicaid services for the most vulnerable.” Martinko has not given up hope. She has attended virtual meetings with advocacy groups, signed onto public letters and gone to rallies outside of Rep. Kim’s Anaheim office.  Martinko said she is doing everything possible to ensure Medicaid funding remains available for the programs that have allowed Lockwood-Wewer to remain healthy and happy at home, because without them, “The light would go out in Josh’s life.” — Jeremy Lindenfeld, Capital & Main This piece was originally published by Capital & Main, which reports from California on economic, political, and social issues.

It's lousy timing: You open a new design studio overseas to help expand into that market--just as a tariff war potentially kills access to that region. But that's the world we live in, and now GM, which has just opened its fifth design studio after what we assume were years of planning, must roll with the punches. GM's new Advanced Design Studio outside of Birmingham, England brings their global studio tally to five. (The others are located in Detroit, Pasadena, Shanghai and Seoul.) The new 24,584-square-foot facility is staffed with over 30 designers and support staff, and they've been busy working on a project already, creating a Corvette-saluting concept whose unveiling was meant to coincide with the official studio opening."Our advanced design team's mandate extends well beyond creating production vehicles," said Michael Simcoe, senior VP of global design. "While they collaborate within our global design network on production and concept vehicle programs, these teams are primarily tasked with imagining what mobility could look like five, 10, and even 20 years into the future and driving innovation for GM." The car greatly resembles the B2 stealth bomber from the front, borrowing a feature you've seen on the '63 Corvette's rear: A split window. It might seem an odd choice, but intriguingly, it obviates the need for A-pillars (at least in renderings), providing a semi-panoramic windshield; the roof has a halo structure to compensate. This central spine continues from front to back, splitting the car from left to right. Interestingly, the designers also say the car is divided into two distinct halves from top to bottom:The exterior design includes a distinctive division between the upper and lower halves of the vehicle. The upper half captures the Corvette's classic design elements, but in a futuristic manner. The lower half focuses on functional technical design, including EV battery technology embedded into the structure and aerodynamics elements designed to channel air efficiently without the need for wings or spoilers. You might wonder why GM tasked the studio based in the UK, a land not exactly dripping with Corvette history, to pay homage to that model. As it turns out, they weren't the only ones given this homework assignment:"As part of the Corvette creative study, we asked multiple studios to develop hypercar concepts, which we'll see more of later this year," says Simcoe. "It was important that they all pay homage to Corvette's historic DNA, but each studio brought their own unique creative interpretation to the project. That is exactly what our advanced design studio network is intended to do – push the envelope, challenge convention and imagine what could be." There are no production plans; this is a styling exercise only. And perhaps an early test for this new studio's designers, to see how their concept work stacks up against the forthcoming deliverables from the other studios.The UK studio is headed up by veteran designer Julian Thomson, Jaguar's former Design Director and the man who penned the Lotus Elise S1.