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DESIGNING SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WHO'VE LOST TRUST ONLINE

Online scams have grown so convincing that even a digital payment service designer at HMRC fell victim to impersonation fraud.

WCAG COMPLIANCE VS. REAL ACCESSIBILITY: WHAT ORGANIZATIONS GET WRONG

WCAG compliance is a critical but insufficient baseline for true digital accessibility — a technically conformant product can still be unusable for people with disabilities, like a wheelchair ramp blocked by a telephone pole.

LESS IS MORE, MORE OR LESS

AI makes it easier than ever to add more — features, animations, code — but more output doesn't equal better products.

READ HOW HEADSPACE DID IT

WHILE JONY IVE IS DESIGNING FERRARIS, ANOTHER APPLE DESIGNER IS THINKING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE GOLF CART

Former Apple designer Julian Hoenig has publicly launched Amble, an electric buggy company whose debut vehicle – the Amble One – is a minimalist, street-legal EV with a 40 mph top speed, 60-mile range, and a starting price of around $25,000. Inspired by retro vehicles and NASA's 1971 lunar rover, the design was born from co-founder José António Uva's frustration with ugly, uncomfortable golf carts in the hospitality industry. All 2027 delivery slots are already reserved for hospitality clients, with individual orders now open in Europe and the US, and deliveries for those expected in 2028.

ADOBE IS BUYING TOPAZ LABS, THE AI VIDEO ENHANCER

FIGMA'S DESIGN AGENT, NOW WITH CUSTOM TOOLS AND GREATER CONTEXT

Figma has expanded its AI-powered design agent in open beta, enabling designers to create custom plugins, WebGPU shaders, and reusable workflows with natural language while giving the agent more context about their projects and teams. The agent can now reference attached files and other Figma documents, search the web, connect to external tools like GitHub, Slack, Atlassian, Notion, and Hex, and save frequently used prompts as shareable Skills. Together, these updates transform the design agent from a simple prompting tool into a context-aware collaborator that helps teams automate workflows, preserve design knowledge, and produce designs that better reflect their brand and way of working.

THE LAYERS OF AI EXPERIENCE

Generative AI has made product systems probabilistic and multi-dimensional, rendering the traditional deterministic design model insufficient. A new framework of six interdependent layers (user interface, context, harness, model, governance, and emergence) shows that design influence now extends well below the surface interface. Effective AI designers must be fluent across all these layers, from shaping model behavior and context engineering to accounting for unpredictable emergent outputs they can't fully control.

WHAT DOES FIGMA DO NEXT?

Figma revolutionized product design by turning the canvas into a multiplayer collaboration space, displacing incumbents like Sketch almost overnight. As AI collapses the gap between visual intent and working code. However, the canvas risks becoming peripheral, with coordination infrastructure, design systems, and live artifacts mattering more than static design files. Figma now faces a strategic fork: keep pulling everything back into its canvas, or accept a humbler role as one collaborative lens into a system where code and runtime are the real source of truth.

TOP ILLUSTRATION AGENCIES SHARE THEIR TIPS ON NEGOTIATING CONTRACTS

Licensing agreements allow illustrators to retain copyright, earn additional fees from future uses, and protect the long-term value of their work, while work-for-hire contracts require significantly higher compensation because they transfer ownership. Creators should carefully review contracts for clauses covering copyright transfer, derivative works, AI training rights, broad exclusivity, and purchase order terms, as these can substantially affect future earnings and control over their work. Understanding licensing and negotiating fair terms can generate recurring income over the course of a career and prevent costly mistakes.

SHADER LAB

A powerful toolkit to create, stack, and animate shaders. Add your first keyframe from the properties panel.

AI THUMBNAIL MAKER FOR YOUTUBE

Generate studio-quality YouTube and Shorts thumbnails that stop scrolling and drive clicks in seconds.

AI-GENERATED VIDEO CREATION PLATFORM

Generate polished, multilingual avatar videos from scripts, briefs, decks, or documents.

LESS IS MORE, MORE OR LESS

AI makes it easier than ever to add more features, animations, code – but more output doesn't equal better products. Great software stems from deep understanding and judgment: knowing what to remove, what to leave alone, and what not to build at all. In the age of AI, knowing what not to build may be the most valuable skill.

THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT IN MATTERS OF TASTE: WHAT IT REALLY MEANS

The phrase "the customer is always right" is widely misquoted – its original form includes a crucial qualifier: "in matters of taste." Attributed to Harry Gordon Selfridge and other early 20th-century retailers, it was meant to counter paternalistic merchants who imposed their preferences over customers' subjective choices. The principle applies to taste-based decisions in retail, food, and creative services, but not to factual disputes, safety, legal compliance, or staff mistreatment – where other standards must hold.

JUSTIFIED STUDIO BUILDS BRIGHTFIELD'S BRAND ON ‘PROVEN INTELLIGENCE'

Justified rebranded AI procurement platform Brightfield to better reflect the sophistication of its product, centering the identity around the concept of "Proven Intelligence" to emphasize trust and evidence over typical AI visual clichés. The new brand uses a geometric cube system, a distinctive dimensional "B" logo, a refined typography and color palette, and showcases the product itself as proof of its capabilities, while giving the TDX AI platform its own connected visual identity. Since launch, the redesign has been well received internally and externally, helping align teams around a more modern, credible brand that better communicates Brightfield's value.

DESIGNING SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WHO'VE LOST TRUST ONLINE

Online scams have grown so convincing that even a digital payment service designer at HMRC fell victim to impersonation fraud.

WCAG COMPLIANCE VS. REAL ACCESSIBILITY: WHAT ORGANIZATIONS GET WRONG

WCAG compliance is a critical but insufficient baseline for true digital accessibility – a technically conformant product can still be unusable for people with disabilities, much like a wheelchair ramp blocked by a telephone pole.

ANA TERRAL'S ILLUSTRATIONS PERFECTLY CAPTURE PAIN – FROM HEEL BLISTERS AND SUN BURNS TO BITE MARKS

Ana Terral creates delicate alcohol-marker illustrations that explore identity, memory, and the physical traces of desire, capturing the tension between beauty and pain through soft, skin-like depictions of the human body.

CONFIG 2026: NEW MATERIALS, NEW TOOLS, AND A MORE EXPRESSIVE CANVAS

Figma introduced a suite of new creative materials and tools designed to expand what's possible directly on the canvas at Config 2026. Code layers, Figma Motion, shader fills, generative plugins, and Weave tools all aim to eliminate the boundaries between design and other disciplines, letting teams riff and iterate without switching contexts. Rather than positioning AI as the ceiling-raiser, CEO Dylan Field frames these tools as a foundation for designers and builders themselves to push creative expression further than ever.

ENTERPRISE-GRADE AI IMAGE GENERATION IN 2 SECONDS IS HERE: KREA 2 RAW AND TURBO

Krea has released two open-weight AI image models — Krea 2 Raw and Krea 2 Turbo — designed to offer enterprises greater visual variety and creative control than typical AI generators, with Turbo generating images in just 2 seconds. The models are free for individuals and small businesses, but organizations exceeding 50 seats must negotiate a paid enterprise license, and all deployers must implement content filters. Founded in 2022 and backed by $83 million in venture capital, Krea has grown to 30 million users across 191 countries. The release marks its evolution from an AI tools aggregator into an independent model provider.

IPHONE ULTRA 2 ALREADY GIVEN GO-AHEAD, IPHONE AIR 3 NOT, SAYS LEAKER

Apple has reportedly green-lit development of a second-generation iPhone Ultra, signaling confidence in its foldable iPhone plans, while delaying a decision on an iPhone Air 3 until it sees how well the upcoming iPhone Air 2 sells. However, Apple routinely works years ahead on future products, so neither project is guaranteed to reach the market if sales of their predecessors fall short.

EVERY FRAME PERFECT

UI quality is often judged by its weakest moment: any screenshot taken mid-animation should be explainable, not glitchy or inconsistent. Borrowing from Wayland's "every frame is perfect" philosophy, poorly synced or incomplete animations — like misaligned cursors, snapping elements, or strange rectangle transitions — erode user trust by signaling lack of polish. Developers should treat in-between animation states with the same care as start and end states, since imperfect frames silently communicate that the underlying code may be equally unfinished.

BEYOND VIBE CODING: A DESIGNER'S CASE FOR DIRECTED GENERATION

Designers should avoid describing intentional AI-assisted workflows as "vibe coding," since the term implies passive, low-accountability generation rather than deliberate creative direction. Instead, AI should be seen as a tool guided by the designer's judgment, references, and constraints, with terms like "directed generation" or "reference-guided generation" better reflecting a process where human authorship remains central.

50 DESIGN TOKEN FILES, ONE PROBLEM: YOUR AGENTS CAN'T READ THE MEANING

An analysis of 50 public design systems found that while design tokens are well-structured for build pipelines, most lack the semantic metadata AI agents need to use them reliably, such as usage guidance, intent, and constraints. Adding descriptions, deprecation flags, and machine-readable rules directly to token files can significantly improve AI-generated design decisions by reducing ambiguity and making token systems truly agent-ready.

INSTANT AND EFFORTLESS PHOTO EDITING

Airbrush Studio, a photo editor for PC designed for desktops, lets you easily enhance images with AI-powered tools. Crop, expand, retouch, fix facial details, and reshape photos to create clean, polished, high-quality results in minutes.

MOTION DESIGN REINVENTED

Real-time 2D animation, motion design, and data-driven workflows - built for animators and motion designers.

FREE 2D/3D MOTION GRAPHICS AND VFX SOFTWARE

Autograph is a software solution that combines professional tools for motion graphics, VFX/compositing, and 2D/3D projects across industries.

DESIGN ENGINEER PRINCIPLES

Vercel's Design Engineer principles center on owning the full product experience — from shaping interfaces to shipping code — while solving real problems for users and teammates. True excellence requires understanding users, constraints, and tradeoffs, then scoping work small enough to execute with clarity, craft, and trust. Collaboration is built into the role: sharing early, giving direct feedback, and converting recurring lessons into better defaults and systems.

THE ILLUSION OF AI PRODUCTIVITY

Despite widespread excitement about AI boosting productivity, a study of 163,000 employees found people are working more — including on weekends — while spending less time in focused, deep work. Companies need better decisions and output, not faster or greater volume. Most AI-generated content ends up verbose and unnecessary. Rather than automating everything, use AI only on repetitive, low-value tasks — preserving the slow, challenging work that brings genuine meaning and accomplishment.

FABLE&CO. GIVES LIGNIN PIONEER NOVA BIOCHEM ITS FIRST REAL IDENTITY

Fable&Co. created Nova Biochem's first complete brand identity around the concept of "Matter," reflecting both its materials-focused technology and its broader impact. The system combines molecular-inspired visuals, a distinctive yellow accent, and a science-led website to present the deep-tech startup as a credible, scalable industrial business rather than an early-stage biotech company.

THE NATURALLY REFRESHING VISUAL LANGUAGE OF SOUR SODA STUDIO

Sour Soda Studio is an anonymous side project by an established illustrator known as A, built over four years through experimentation with freehand vector brushes in Adobe Fresco, resulting in a soft, rubber-like visual language of organic lines and flat colors.

FROM BEGINNER TO PRO ARTIST IN THREE YEARS: THE FIVE ART LESSONS THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE

Morgan Noll went from complete novice to professional animation artist in just three years, landing a role on Star Trek: Lower Decks.

IKEA TURNS EVERYDAY OBJECTS INTO INGENIOUS WORLD CUP GUESSING GAME

Ikea Canada's "Assemble the World" campaign creatively celebrates the 2026 World Cup by using everyday Ikea products to recreate national flags, blending interactive marketing with the brand's signature design aesthetic.

DELIGHTFUL NEW WARNER BROS ANIMATION LOGO REVEAL IS THE PERFECT ANTIDOTE TO CGI SATURATION

Warner Bros. unveiled a new flat-design Animation logo at Annecy, featuring a simplified WB shield and Tweety flying alongside it, inspired by traditional hand-drawn animation rather than CGI aesthetics. The logo, which debuted in an animated reveal celebrating the animation process, has been well-received by fans. It accompanies Warner Bros. Animation's upcoming 2026–2028 slate that includes projects such as Tom & Jerry, ThunderCats, Meerkats, and The Cat in the Hat.

IPHONE ULTRA 3D-PRINTED HINGE PROBLEMS REPORTEDLY SOLVED, READY FOR SEPTEMBER LAUNCH

Reports suggest Apple's foldable iPhone Ultra is back on track for a September unveiling after engineers resolved durability and manufacturing issues with its 3D-printed hinge, including noise during stress testing and assembly tolerance problems. The device has now entered test production. Recent supply-chain sources indicate Apple remains on schedule to launch its first foldable iPhone shortly after its expected September announcement.

ADOBE: NEW FIREFLY GRAPH CAN TURN CREATIVE WORKFLOWS INTO REUSABLE ASSETS

Adobe has launched Firefly Graph for Creative Cloud customers, a node-based workflow tool that lets users chain AI-powered tasks — such as image generation, background removal, and upscaling — into reusable, shareable processes. With access to over 300 node types spanning Adobe and third-party tools from Google and OpenAI, it aims to solve the problem of complex creative workflows that are hard to replicate. Unlike standalone tools such as ComfyUI, Adobe's advantage lies in deep integration across its product suite, from Creative Cloud apps to Firefly Boards and Firefly Creative Production.

MY BEEF WITH AGENTIC DESIGN SYSTEMS

"Agentic design systems" promise autonomous AI loops that self-heal and generate components — but the real danger isn't the agents, it's removing human ownership from the judgment layer. Design systems are fundamentally governance technologies encoding collective decisions that organizations remain accountable for, meaning no agent loop can replace the human who owns what "pass" means. Agents belong between the gates, handling generation and conformance checking, while humans must own every gate — otherwise the result is just confident, unowned drift dressed in system authority.

YOUR DOCUMENTATION IS STILL IN YOUR MUM'S FILING CABINET

Traditional folder-based documentation systems — inherited from physical filing cabinets and unchanged for 50 years — force knowledge into single locations, making it hard to find. People naturally forage for information through search, links, and colleagues rather than navigating hierarchies, while AI retrieves content by meaning and context, not file location. The solution isn't better-labeled folders, but interconnected, multi-path knowledge systems discoverable through search, tagging, metadata, and semantic relationships.

HOW ACCEPTING “JUST BUILD THIS THING” CAN HURT YOUR DESIGN CAREER

As AI tools make it easier for stakeholders to arrive with polished solutions already in hand, designers risk being reduced to executors unless they actively challenge assumptions, clarify business goals, and help define the problem before designing the solution. Long-term career success increasingly depends on demonstrating strategic thinking—understanding outcomes, questioning briefs, and bringing independent judgment, rather than simply producing high-quality design outputs.

REAL-TIME DITHER ANIMATION BUILDER

DotForge is a real-time dither animation builder. Create stunning dithered visuals with 50+ effects, post-processing, and one-click presets.

FREE AI THUMBNAIL EDITOR

Create YouTube thumbnails faster with Thumio. Use AI to edit, redesign, and generate thumbnails built for clicks.

CONSISTENCY, BUT IN EXCELLENCE NOT APPEARANCE

Modern design systems have made visual consistency an end in itself, sacrificing the individual excellence that makes icons truly iconic. Rules about shapes, gradients, and lighting are easy to enforce but cap each element's potential, while genuine excellence demands judgment, taste, and sensitivity to context. Flipping the priority — pursuing excellence for each individual element — produces a richer, more meaningful consistency of quality and intention.

DESIGNING WITH AI: WHY CLAUDE DESIGN IS NOT THE FUTURE OF ENTERPRISE DESIGN

Claude Design accelerates early-stage UI generation but lacks the depth enterprise teams need for governance, scalability, and design system consistency. Its data living in Anthropic's proprietary ecosystem raises serious compliance concerns for industries like health and finance, while limited interoperability complicates handoffs between designers and developers. Enterprise AI design tools should instead prioritize open standards, data ownership, self-hosting, and MCP integration to maintain control and avoid vendor lock-in.

STUDIO GRUHL'S IDENTITY FOR RERUN IS HARD AND HUMAN AT THE SAME TIME

Studio Gruhl created a new identity for Rerun by rejecting the polished, futuristic aesthetic typically associated with robotics and instead embracing the hands-on, workshop-like reality of building robots, reflected in a bolt-inspired wordmark and tactile visual details. The brand balances technical precision with human creativity through expressive data-driven gradients, restrained typography, and a design system intended to feel both systematic and playful, resonating with developers while remaining approachable.

MOVING BEYOND UX: THE RISE OF THE AGENTIC EXPERIENCE (AX) DESIGNER

Agentic Experience (AX) Design is an emerging discipline focused not on human-facing interfaces, but on structuring the environments where autonomous AI agents operate — handling tasks across inboxes, CRMs, and databases without needing a traditional UI.

THE ARTIST PERFECTLY REIMAGINING MOVIE SCENES THROUGH CLASSIC PAINTING REFERENCES

Pop culture meets art history in the work of Norro Bey, who blends iconic movie scenes with classic painting references into collage-style compositions.

SHUNPEI KAMIYA FINDS THE SURREAL, AND THE FUNNY, IN EVERYDAY TOKYO

Tokyo-based illustrator Shunpei Kamiya transforms everyday Japanese scenes into surreal, thought-provoking images, blending manga influences, humor, and observations about modern life while championing the unique value of human-made illustration.

GETTY IMAGES ACCUSED AI OF WHOLESALE THEFT. IT'S NOW AN OFFICIAL CHATGPT IMAGE PARTNER

Getty Images, once a fierce critic of how AI companies use creative content without permission, has struck a licensing deal with OpenAI to integrate its professionally licensed photos and visual assets into ChatGPT's search and discovery experiences. The partnership signals a broader industry shift, with rights holders and AI companies increasingly turning to formal licensing agreements rather than legal confrontations. For Getty, it's a new distribution channel and a vindication of its licensed-content stance; for OpenAI, it means access to one of the largest professional image libraries in the world.