Let's break down that weird 9-minute Sam Altman and Jony Ive video (2 minute read)
OpenAI's $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive's AI-device startup io was announced with a highly stylized nine-minute video that felt more like a tech-industry rom-com than a product launch. Despite glowing praise between Sam Altman and Ive and surreal scenes with vague dialogue, the clip reveals almost nothing about the device or vision. Critics mocked its theatrical tone, hype, and lack of substance, calling it a vanity piece rather than a real tech reveal.
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Introducing the Gen-4 Image API (2 minute read)
Runway released its Gen-4 Image API, making its flexible multimodal generation model available for integration into apps and platforms. The API costs $0.08 per generated image and enables use cases like virtual try-on, gaming asset generation, and interior design visualization. Gen-4 References has become one of Runway's most popular releases, constantly discovering new workflows. The model offers unprecedented flexibility for creative teams to scale product visuals consistently across different scenes and settings.
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Google's Veo 3 AI Model is Scary Good at Generating Videos. Creators and Viewers Should be Prepared (3 minute read)
Google DeepMind's Veo 3 creates realistic videos that are hard to tell apart from human-made ones, marking a big jump in AI video quality. It now includes audio, like dialogue, sound effects, and background noise, ending what DeepMind's CEO called the silent era. This progress raises worries about an internet flooded with AI content and challenges for human creators. Platforms need to stay alert. and media literacy must improve as Hollywood directors begin using these tools.
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Done with components (4 minute read)
Component building in isolation leads to inconsistency and inefficiency, which a design system alone can't prevent. A visible, collaborative "component marketplace" is needed to support team autonomy and organizational oversight. The distinction between a component library and a design system lies in thoughtful curation and shared strategy, not just availability, and addressing this gap is key to achieving design consistency and usability at scale.
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So Long, Figma. Thanks for Everything (8 minute read)
A designer's “future self” writes back to reveal a world where AI and mature design systems have revolutionized the creative process—sketches and annotations now instantly generate production-ready, accessible code, freeing designers from pixel-pushing to focus on strategy, problem-solving, and impact. Rather than making mockups, designers now shape systems, guide experience design, and collaborate more deeply—unlocking more meaningful, creative, and fulfilling work.
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The UX Maturity Reality Check (8 minute read)
When a company claims to prioritize user experience, the real test lies in whether that commitment shapes decisions, resource allocation, and strategy, not just marketing rhetoric. UX maturity reflects how deeply user-centered design is embedded in an organization's culture and operations. While most companies recognize its importance, few truly institutionalize it as a driver of innovation and growth.
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AI Color Match (Website)
Instantly apply the color and tone of any image to your own. Download your edit as a .jpg, preset, or LUT for free.
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Turn Words into Working Apps (Website)
Macaly is an AI agent that codes, ships, and resolves GitHub issues. It transforms ideas into production-ready apps in minutes through voice-first interaction.
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SVG to CSS Shape Converter (Website)
This tool will convert an SVG into a CSS Shape, with a responsive code made with clip-path's new shape() function. It's a single-element implementation that works with images and supports gradient coloration.
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Intense Energy to Inevitable Risks – Designing for a Start-up (7 minute read)
Working with start-up founders creates close bonds as designers invest in brands tied to the founder's identity. Blank slate projects offer creative freedom that draws agencies, but founders often need extra guidance due to their limited design experience. Tight budgets lead to split payments, equity deals, or lower fees to build junior staff experience. Despite the risk of failure or pivot, seasoned designers learn to spot strong ideas and know that success can shape a founder's lasting view of design.
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How to Build a Successful Designer and Developer Partnership (5 minute read)
Effective designer-developer partnerships treat handoffs as collaborative steps with confirmed features, not afterthoughts that cause miscommunication and weaken products. Design systems build shared language - early prototyping helps spot issues, test with users, and show functionality early on. Innovation grows when both sides value each other's strengths, like in OFFBRAND's appliance website project, where developers' solutions improved the design vision.
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Thanks for reading,
Jae Lee, Matej Latin & Ralph Brinker
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