Hey. Howās it all? Busy few weeks. Went to Porto and ate well. Became a LEGO SERIOUS PLAY designer and facilitator. Awesome. Right, must dash.
"Your lifeās a nanosecond; if you have a contribution to make, then make it. Donāt bitch about it, just do it."
Richard Serra
culture // status update
Status is a huge ugly force we rarely talk about. Material wealth and conscious consumption, has driven a lot of our behaviour. But stuff is cheaper. And mostly, easy to get. So conferring status with things, is weaker and has less meaning. Rob Henderson believes weĀ have decoupled social status from goods and reattached it to beliefs.Ā While Columbia Professor Silvia Bellezza,Ā believesĀ status doesn't come from where you're going in the cultural landscape, but from how far you are from others.Ā His paperĀ "Distance and Alternative Signals of Statusā breaks down how status used toĀ be a directional game (moving up), but now it's a distance game and proposes a framework of alternative signals along six dimensions: time (new/old), quantity (many possessions/few possessions), conspicuousness (conspicuous/inconspicuous), aesthetics (beautiful/ugly), culture (highbrow/lowbrow), and pace of life (slow/fast). Status games are ever present, but the rules have changed. Keep up.
brands // software
The consumer funnel can apparentlyĀ get in the f*cking sea.Ā It lives in the old world, and Gen Z donāt live there anymore. This is according to newĀ research from youth agency Archival, whoĀ foundĀ that Gen Zās have broken the marketing funnel.Ā Instead of the trad linear AIDA model, theirĀ life on socialĀ media, isĀ an infinite loop of inspiration, exploration, community & loyalty. A world of influencers,Ā algorithms, and impulse at light speed. A world, increasingly mediated by software.Ā So software brands are growing up and becoming more influential. We're in the era of modern software companies as lifestyle brands. Beyond utility, theyāre now focussed on delivering an experience and forging resonant identities. We may see: Haute Couture software, Luxury software, DIY software, Economy software, Indie software. Some examples are: Arc, Linear, Amie, Pitch, Craft, Arena, Superhuman, Loop, June, Campfire, Notion. And as software brands become more ābrandyā, should brands become more like software? Should we be viewing brands as operating systems? The great blur continues.
creativity // stakes
Brian Collins is great. He recently wrote aboutĀ resilient futures and how what happens now matters,Ā because what happens next depends on it.Ā He says,Ā āour job as designers is to help companies and organizations see, create and communicate their places in the futureāĀ and how "we have to look beyond the stakeholders of todayā¦.First and foremost, even before stakeholders, we have to think about stakesā. Everything has consequences. But this line in particular, sat with me "we are at a moment in history where almost everything needs to be rethought, reimagined and done different: How products are made. How services are delivered. Packaging. Materials. Business models. The stakes couldnāt be higherā.Ā Change is a creative act. Creativity needs to act. Which may mean changing our beliefs, to focus on what we really value.Ā Adam Grant talks aboutĀ the dangers of letting beliefs become our identity. If we define ourselves by our beliefs, we see questioning them as a threat. But curious lifelong learners, see changing their mind as a moment of growth.
technology // light speed
Another day, another AI story. Coca Cola are using GenAI A LOT.Ā Theyāve foundĀ 10-30X faster concept iteration cycles andĀ 38% higher audience testing scores. They're also gettingĀ 32% of content creation + 17% of R&D ideation from AI.Ā Pfizer are flying with their AI platform, Charlie, improving the companyās content supply chain, along with content creation and editing, It also helps with fact-checking and legal reviews. Meanwhile Under Armour just launched an AI ad. ItĀ features Anthony Joshua in various scenes, but no additional footage was shot. Just AI generated footage. Working withĀ production company Tool,Ā they're creating a dataset representing UAās āvisual DNA,ā Itās growing fast and spreading.Ā Zoe Scaman wroteĀ a field guide on strategy in the age of AI. And here someĀ artists give feedback on Sora (from OpenAI so hardly unbiased). Itās all happening. But still letās not forget that sh*t that arrives at light speed, is still sh*t.
five random (ish) things:
WhatĀ addictionĀ feels like š³.
DigitalĀ ecommerce trends š±.
Quiet is the new loud š¤«.
10 women. 6 days.Ā From Lululemon šāāļø.
Story aboutĀ loss, objects & memory š§.
watching // rhubarb
Some things matter. Some things are meaning-full. Beautiful story about growing, family, legacy and change from organic perfume brand Ffern. Enjoy.