News & Trends

New iPhone 16 Pro color will reportedly be Desert Titanium (2 minute read)

Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 Pro will reportedly come in a new color called Desert Titanium, described as a deep, dark gold similar to a previous purple shade. The color lineup is expected to include white, black, gold, and gray, with Desert Titanium potentially replacing the current blue option.

Google's Head of Pixel 9 Design Won't Apologize for its Big, Beautiful Camera Bump (4 minute read)

Claude Zellweger, Google's head of Pixel 9 design, has defended the phone's prominent camera bar as a deliberate design choice. Large camera modules are necessary for high-quality photography. Future designs may evolve as computational photography and AI post-production techniques advance, possibly reducing the need for bulky hardware.

Announcing the 2024 Design System Report Survey—Your Voice, Our Community (2 minute read)

The 2024 Design System Report survey invites all who use or create design systems to share their insights. This year's survey, now shorter and more impactful, focuses on understanding community challenges and successes across various aspects of design systems. Your feedback will shape a comprehensive report with valuable best practices.

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Opinions & Tutorials

‘I really f**king hate generative AI' – Procreate CEO comes out swinging against new tech (5 minute read)

Procreate CEO James Cuda has firmly rejected generative AI and expressed concerns about its negative impact on artists. Cuda has committed to keeping AI out of Procreate's products in favor of supporting human creativity. This stance, applauded by some artists, contrasts with other companies like Canva and Adobe that have embraced generative AI, highlighting the growing divide between proponents and critics of the technology, especially amid ongoing legal battles over AI's use of copyrighted content.

The vibrant evolution: Microsoft's colorful transformation (5 minute read)

Microsoft's brand team, in collaboration with Pantone and Franklin Till, revamped its visual identity with a new emotionally resonant color palette, categorized into Human, Vibrant, and Dimensional themes. The new palette reflects global cultural trends, moving from overly saturated tones to softer, more neutral shades to better connect with users.

Cognitive load and UX Design (9 minute read)

Cognitive load theory, developed by John Sweller, emphasizes optimizing information presentation to avoid overloading working memory, which can only simultaneously process 4 to 7 elements. In UX design, reducing extraneous load and optimizing intrinsic and germane loads improves user efficiency and experience and reduces errors.

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Find & Replace Styles (Figma plugin)

A tool for finding and replacing styles. It works with components, instances, and library styles. The tool is useful for aligning parameters across projects in bulk.

Contrast Grid (Figma plugin)

This Figma plugin checks accessibility by evaluating color contrast combinations against WCAG 2.1 standards, ensuring designs meet a11y requirements for readability.

Isocons (Website)

This collection of meticulously crafted isometric icons is ideal for enhancing posters, projects, and presentations.

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Miscellaneous

Madalena Studio grows a logo with live bacteria for a drinks laboratory (2 minute read)

Madalena Studio designed a unique logo for Crucible, a drinks laboratory, by growing bacteria on cork logos and capturing natural patterns and textures. The resulting visuals reflect Crucible's experimental approach to flavor development and align with its founder's passion for natural forms.

Hyperfocus puts recruitment agency's founder at the center of its rebrand (6 minute read)

Undiscovered, a Berlin-based creative recruitment agency, rebranded with the help of Hyperfocus, a Hamburg-based agency, to support its expansion and new ambitions. The rebrand includes a detective-inspired character reflecting the agency's persistence in finding talent, strategic UX design for a smoother user experience, and a custom, playful visual identity that balances sophistication with a fun, animated aesthetic.

Design Job Seekers Often Fail to Talk About Impact. Here's Why That Matters (7 minute read)

Many designers struggle to communicate the impact of their work in portfolios, often focusing on visuals over outcomes. Businesses prioritize hiring designers who demonstrate measurable results, making it crucial to highlight how designs influence vital metrics. Understanding and showcasing the real-world impact of your work makes you a more compelling candidate.

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Embracing the Raw Aesthetics: Integrating Brutalism into Modern Design (6 minute read)

Brutalist architecture, a mid-20th-century style, emphasizes raw materials like concrete, functionality, and bold geometric forms.

Imitation Breeds Mediocrity (4 minute read)

Imitation stifles innovation by bypassing deep understanding.

Using the Serial Position Effect in UX Design (9 minute read)

The Serial Position Effect aids UX designers in optimizing user recall by strategically placing critical information at the beginning or end of a sequence, enhancing user experience and task completion.

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Thanks for reading,
Jae Lee, Matej Latin & Ralph Brinker