Parse notes
PayPal's revamped logo, designed by Pentagram, replaces its previous dynamic, blue-toned logo with a plainer, black standalone wordmark. The company is aiming to differentiate itself from other fintech firms that predominantly use blue. The logo has been critiqued for following the trend of flattening logos, which often results in a less recognizable brand identity.
Epic Games is launching Fab.com, a unified marketplace combining Unreal Engine Marketplace, Sketchfab Store, Quixel, and ArtStation Marketplace, in mid-October. Fab will support multiple game engines, including Unreal Engine and Unity, offering creators a platform to buy, sell, and share various assets with an 88/12 revenue split.
Runway, an AI startup, has entered a partnership with Lionsgate to develop a customized video generation model, enabling filmmakers to enhance their creative processes. This collaboration aims to create more cost-effective content creation opportunities for Lionsgate, a studio noted for its budget-conscious operations. Despite the potential benefits, concerns remain about how AI may affect employment in the film industry.
The challenges of collaboration are similar to martial arts and dance, both highlighting the importance of adapting to others rather than trying to control them. Drawing on the expertise of a former FBI hostage negotiator, this article introduces four key tools: calibrated questions, mirroring, summarizing, and creating a shared goal map. It emphasizes the significance of alignment and consensus, particularly for designers working in team settings.
A presentation in 2012 at CERN on an incredible discovery in particle physicsa sparked a discussion due to its use of Comic Sans, reflecting growing interest in font-related controversies, or "fontroversies." Microsoft's 2024 switch from Calibri to Aptos received mixed reactions - it was seen by some as an unnecessary brand exercise with minimal differences between the fonts.
This "Design Notes" podcast features an interview with Bethany Fong, a design director at Meta and a pivotal figure in creating Material Design at Google. Fong discusses how the original Material components were designed, the ten-year impact of Material Design, and the role of intersectionality in design. A full transcript is available.
A tool that scans the layout automatically and flags errors, such as incorrect margins, style, or grid mismatches. This is an excellent tool for final review before submitting a project to developers.
A curated collection of A/B test results from best-in-class apps.
Convert your complex blog posts into visually engaging infographics that simplify information, boost engagement, and skyrocket shares.
Studio Oker designed Canoe's identity, drawing inspiration from Norway's landscapes and the metaphor of exploration. It used deep blue and white colors with a custom wordmark to reflect water's fluidity. The minimalist brand assets, logo symbol, and Caslon Doric typeface emphasize joint exploration, warmth, and playful movement. The website design focuses on reducing CO2 emissions.
Generative AI systems like large language models (LLMs) predict word sequences based on statistical patterns in training data, rather than serving as fact databases. Built on neural networks, LLMs are trained on large datasets to learn word embeddings and refined using human feedback to align their outputs with expectations.
Generative AI is revolutionizing creative work by introducing new tools for image manipulation, 3D modeling, and video generation. However, the generation of coherent text within images remains challenging. Adobe's Firefly AI text generator, Text Effects for Adobe Express, addresses this by producing desired words in specific graphical styles for design projects. Testing during Typography Week revealed its capabilities and limitations.
Google Fonts updated Inter to version 4.0, causing text shifts due to new italics and spacing changes.
Work Louder's Creator Micro is a $130 keypad with 12 customizable keys and two dials.
AI has impacted copywriting, illustration, and photography, and is now entering typography.