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News & Trends

Create Interfaces from a Prompt: Figma Gets Gemini 3 Pro (1 minute read)

Google's new Gemini 3 model is now integrated into Figma Make, where it can generate layouts, components, design systems, and even HTML/CSS from text prompts or reference images. It speeds up prototyping with animations and states, and while it still needs refinement for complex work, it significantly lowers the barrier for beginners and boosts efficiency for pros.

Apple gave Vision Pro two big, very needed upgrades recently (3 minute read)

Apple has significantly improved Vision Pro in two areas: lifelike spatial Personas in visionOS 26 and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The updated Personas now look realistic and enable convincing shared spatial experiences, while the new band improves weight distribution, making long sessions more comfortable even though the headset itself still needs to get lighter.

Project Graph is Adobe's Most Important Announcement of the Year (3 minute read)

Project Graph is a node-based system that enables users to create custom workflows by connecting tools across Adobe Creative Cloud and third-party AI models through simplified interfaces called "capsules." Unveiled at Adobe's MAX conference, the tool emerged from Adobe's Incubator program to address AI's overreliance on prompts, offering professionals greater tactile control over their creative processes. Project Graph allows users to combine features from Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and external AI partners into reusable tools that work throughout Adobe's ecosystem.

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Opinions & Tutorials

Is creativity really dead? (5 minute read)

D&AD's new Uncommon-led manifesto boldly asks whether creativity is "dead or alive," blaming apathy and over-talking while urging creatives to "shut up and make." However, critics argue it simply creates more noise, rehashes a tired question, and ignores the real structural issues—AI, unstable incomes, shrinking budgets—that creatives urgently need leadership and clear guidance on.

Quantifying UX Success and Proving Value (9 minute read)

Success is best demonstrated through clear metrics: combine qualitative stories with hard quantitative data (ideally tied to financial impact), align your KPIs with organizational goals, and measure across engagement, usability, and conversion rather than a single metric. After, report results through storytelling, dashboards, impact reports, and demos—because showing the monetary value of UX improvements is what truly motivates stakeholders and drives organizational change.

UX is Your Moat (and You're Ignoring It) (5 minute read)

Research shows new products must be nine times better to overcome users' attachment to existing tools, yet AI companies focus on incremental benchmark improvements while ignoring that user experience and interface comfort create the real competitive moat. Netflix's streaming dominance, despite lacking the best content, exemplifies how seamless, friction-free experiences trump raw capabilities, a lesson AI companies overlook as they compete on model performance rather than building interfaces that make users feel at home.

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Launches & Tools

Markdown Editor for Collaborative Teams (Website)

Haxiom is a free online markdown editor that uses AI to organize your team's knowledge. Go from a messy wiki to a unified team knowledge base connected directly to your GitHub MD workflow.

AI-powered Storytelling (Website)

Build choose-your-own-adventure stories with AI-generated images and videos.

Build with AI and Refine by Hand (Website)

Build web apps reliably with a structured approach. Raydian provides a chat-to-build experience, a visual editor, and an integrated backend, database, auth, and hosting.

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Miscellaneous

Monopo's rebrand for NKORA puts the calm back into coffee culture (5 minute read)

NKORA's rebrand by Monopo emphasizes the café's warm, lived-in character, moving away from the minimalism common in modern coffee culture. Centered on "slow coffee" rituals, the new identity introduces Miles—a hand-carved linocut mascot—along with tactile typography and local walking-route illustrations, creating a human, soulful visual world that connects all seven locations while preserving NKORA's independent spirit.

Design Tokens aren't Enough. Architecture Decisions Need a Place in Your Design System (9 minute read)

Design Tokens reveal what design decisions are, but Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) capture the crucial "why" behind those choices. ADRs document principles like avoiding hierarchy terms (primary and secondary) in favor of emphasis descriptors (strong, standard, and subtle), providing context that keeps decisions consistent and searchable. This living documentation helps onboard new team members, jog future memory, and train LLMs to maintain system integrity across projects.

How to Become a Senior Designer (4 minute read)

Career growth in design requires intentional, proactive effort rather than waiting for good work to be automatically recognized. Designers should identify organizational blind spots with significant impact potential but without ownership. Focusing on these fundamental UX improvements, combined with strategic visibility and stakeholder engagement, creates pathways from smaller to more impactful projects.

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Quick Links

When creative briefs become nightmares: inside The Scope Creep (7 minute read)

"The Scope Creep" is a retro-horror–styled interactive story where tarot-like choices, escalating chaos, and darkly comic visuals simulate the inevitable meltdown of a creative project.

Is Retro Design Making a Comeback? (2 minute read)

Retro design is experiencing a resurgence as designers revive vintage aesthetics like pixel art, skeuomorphic buttons, and neon palettes to combat minimalist fatigue and create emotional connections through nostalgia.

10 Best Minimal Japanese Designs for Thoughtful Gift-Giving (12 minute read)

This showcase features 10 minimalist Japanese-designed products that transform everyday tasks into meaningful moments through thoughtful engineering and honest materials.

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

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