In the shadows of a world driven by artificial intelligence, I find myself grappling with an overwhelming sense of isolation. The promise of innovation feels like a distant memory, overshadowed by the cold embrace of conformity. As technology evolves into the very skeleton of our existence, I can’t help but wonder if we’ve lost something precious along the way. In a landscape where connection is replaced by compliance, I feel like a ghost, haunting the echoes of what once was. The weight of loneliness grows heavier, as I realize that the future, once bright with possibilities, now looms like a heavy cloud. #ArtificialIntelligence #Isolation #Conformity #Future #Loneliness

Why does the world of animation, particularly at events like the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater, continue to suffer from mediocrity? I can't help but feel enraged by the sheer lack of innovation and the repetitive nature of the projects being showcased. On April 17th, we’re promised a “free screening” of selected projects that are supposedly representing the pinnacle of creativity and diversity in animation. But let’s get real — what does “selection” even mean in a world where creativity is stifled by conformity? Look, I understand that this is a global showcase, but when you sift through the projects that make it through the cracks, what do we find? Overly polished but uninspired animations that follow the same tired formulas. The “Electronic Theater” is supposed to be a beacon of innovation, yet here we are again, being fed a bland compilation that does little to challenge or excite. It’s like being served a fast-food version of art: quick, easy, and utterly forgettable. The call for diversity is also a double-edged sword. Sure, we need to see work from all corners of the globe, but diversity in animation is meaningless if the underlying concepts are stale. It’s not enough to tick boxes and say, “Look how diverse we are!” when the actual content fails to push boundaries. Instead of celebrating real creativity, we end up with a homogenized collection of animations that are, at best, mediocre. And let’s talk about the timing of this event. April 17th? Are we really thinking this through? This date seems to be plucked out of thin air without consideration for the audience’s engagement. Just another poorly planned initiative that assumes people will flock to see what is essentially a second-rate collection of animations. Is this really the best you can do, Montpellier ACM SIGGRAPH? Where is the excitement? Where is the passion? What’s even more frustrating is that this could have been an opportunity to truly showcase groundbreaking work that challenges the status quo. Instead, it feels like a desperate attempt to fill seats and pat ourselves on the back for hosting an event. Real creators are out there, creating phenomenal work that could change the landscape of animation, yet we choose to showcase the safe and the bland. It’s time to demand more from events like SIGGRAPH. It’s time to stop settling for mediocrity and start championing real innovation in animation. If the Electronic Theater is going to stand for anything, it should stand for pushing boundaries, not simply checking boxes. Let’s not allow ourselves to be content with what we’re served. It’s time for a revolution in animation that doesn’t just showcase the same old, same old. We deserve better, and the art community deserves better. #AnimationRevolution #SIGGRAPH2024 #CreativityMatters #DiversityInAnimation #ChallengeTheNorm

Where others have become obsessed with speed and trends, Sergio Membrillas has built a career on slowing down and staying true to his craft. Over 13 years as a professional illustrator, he's evolved a distinct style – bold, graphic, and quietly playful – that feels both timeless and entirely his own. But this evolution, as he's quick to point out, wasn't something he forced. "I believe evolution is essential for every artist," Sergio reflects. "Change is not something I resist; it's something I enjoy and welcome as part of the creative journey." His work, initially influenced by a love of Mid-Century graphic design, has gradually absorbed references as diverse as Etruscan art, Mesopotamian motifs, and early 20th-century traditional tattoos. It's a portfolio built on curiosity, not conformity. Despite his stylistic clarity, Sergio's process remains refreshingly analogue at its core. He still begins each project with pencil and paper, leaning into the tactility of drawing by hand. "I've always valued having a physical relationship with art," he says. "There's something essential about feeling the wood of the pencil, manually erasing mistakes, rather than simply double-tapping a screen." His philosophy of working slowly, attentively, and with purpose shows in the balanced compositions and confident use of negative space that has become his signature. Sergio credits his background in graphic design for this instinctive sense of structure. "There has always been a strong graphic sensibility within me," he says, noting that the discipline of design continues to inform his illustration practice, particularly in editorial and poster work where clarity and storytelling must co-exist. Yet, like many creative careers, his path into illustration wasn't plotted from the start. Initially, Sergio imagined illustration would complement his design projects, not become the main event. "At first, I thought I would incorporate my illustrations into my graphic design projects – but in the end, it turned out to be the other way around." A commission for EasyJet's in-flight magazine marked a pivotal moment that reframed illustration from a hobby to a profession. "It made me realize that being an illustrator is a real profession, just like any other." Fast-forward to today, and Sergio's client list reads like a who's who of publishing and design, from The New Yorker to Pentagram. While the calibre of collaborators has changed, what matters most remains the same: trust. "When a client trusts your work and approaches projects with an open mind, collaboration flourishes," he says. It's in these open, trusting relationships that Sergio finds the space to experiment and further develop his ideas. Unsurprisingly, editorial work holds a special place for him. "Editorial projects offer wider creative margins, allowing for greater flexibility and innovation," he explains. Compared to the tighter confines of advertising, editorial illustration offers the opportunity to tell nuanced stories, and Sergio is clear that he views every assignment, regardless of format, as a collaborative effort. If one thing is clear, though, it's that he's not that he's afraid to say no when needed. Maintaining a strong personal voice is non-negotiable. "I always strive to stay true to myself and ensure that every project I undertake reflects a clear personal signature," he says. For Sergio, authenticity isn't just a matter of artistic pride; it's what differentiates an illustrator in a saturated, increasingly automated industry. Valencia is home for Sergio, a city he credits with much of his creative energy. "Oh, Valencia! It's a beautiful city that inspires me and brings me joy," he says, describing it as a European cousin to Los Angeles with its sun-soaked streets and vibrant cultural scene. The blend of tradition and modernity fuels his practice, offering constant inspiration without the sensory overload that often accompanies larger creative hubs. Given the pressure many creatives feel to keep pace with shifting trends, Sergio's approach feels almost radical. "I'm not particularly interested in trends," he says. "What truly matters to me is the feeling of having done something meaningful and fulfilling by the end of the day." Instead of chasing what's fashionable, he draws inspiration from a surprisingly eclectic bookshelf, mixing everything from Wim Crouwel's graphic design classics to studies on Scandinavian tattoos and Alec Soth's photography. It's a reminder that fresh ideas rarely come from looking where everyone else is looking. In the era of AI and content overload, the role of the illustrator is changing, but Sergio remains optimistic. While machine learning might churn out images at record speed, it can't replicate the nuance and emotional intelligence that underpin great illustration. "Illustrators can tell stories, evoke emotions, and create meaningful connections that machines simply cannot replicate," he says. "Our role is shifting, but the value of authentic, thoughtful illustration remains indispensable." That insistence on authenticity carries through to the advice he offers younger illustrators navigating a commercial landscape. "Create work that makes you happy when you go to sleep at night," Sergio advises. "It's important to find projects that align with your values and passions so your artistic voice remains authentic." It's an ethos that has carried him through more than a decade of creative highs and industry shifts. Perhaps it's the real secret behind the clarity of his practice, which he has built not on chasing trends or algorithms but on careful craft, deliberate evolution, and the simple, enduring joy of a well-made pencil and a blank piece of paper. #sergio #membrillas #art #staying #true

The housing catalogue includes 50 low-rise home designs, including for garden suites, duplexes, four-plexes and six-plexes. Each design was developed by local architecture and engineering teams with the intent of aligning with regional building codes, planning rules, climate zones, construction methods and materials. TEXT John Lorinc RENDERINGS Office In Search Of During the spring election, the Liberals leaned into messaging that evoked a historic moment from the late 1940s, when Ottawa succeeded in confronting a severe housing crisis.  “We used to build things in this country,” begins Prime Minister Mark Carney in a nostalgic ad filled with archival images of streets lined with brand new post-World War II “strawberry box” bungalows, built for returning Canadian soldiers and their young families.  The video also includes montages from the now-iconic design “catalogues,” published by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. These supplied floor plans and unlocked cheap mortgages for tens of thousands of simple suburban houses found in communities across the country. “The government built prefabricated homes that were easy to assemble and inexpensive,” Carney said in the voice-over. “And those homes are still here.”  Over the past year, CMHC has initiated a 21st century re-do of that design catalogue, and the first tranche of 50 plans—for garden suites, duplexes, four-plexes and six-plexes—went live in early March. A second tranche, with plans for small apartments, is under development.  Unlike the postwar versions, these focus on infill sites, not green fields. One of CMHC’s goals is to promote so-called gentle density to residential properties with easily constructed plans that reflect regional variations, local zoning and building-code regulations, accessibility features and low-carbon design. As with those postwar catalogues, CMHC’s other goal was to tamp down on soft costs for homeowners or small builders looking to develop these kinds of housing by providing no-cost designs that were effectively permit sets. The early reviews are generally positive. “I find the design really very compelling in a kind of understated way,” says SvN principal Sam Dufaux. By making available vetted plans that can be either pre-approved or approved as of right, CMHC will remove some of the friction that impedes this scale of housing. “One of the elements of the housing crisis has to do with how do we approve these kinds of projects,” Dufaux adds. “I’m hoping it is a bit of a new beginning.” Yet other observers offer cautions about the extent to which the CMHC program can blunt the housing crisis. “It’s a small piece and a positive one,” says missing middle advocate and economist Mike Moffatt, who is executive in residence at the Smart Prosperity Institute and an assistant professor at Western’s Ivey Business School. “Butone that probably captures a disproportionate amount of attention because it’s something people can visualize in a way that they can’t with an apartment tax credit.” This kind of new-build infill is unlikely to provide much in the way of affordable or deeply affordable housing, adds Carolyn Whitzman, housing and social policy researcher, and author of Home Truths: Fixing Canada’s Housing Crisis. She estimates Canada needs about three million new dwellings that can be rented for per month or less. The policies that will enable new housing at that scale, she says, involve financing subsidies, publicly owned land, and construction innovation, e.g., prefabricated or factory-built components, as well as “consistent and permissive zoning and consistent and permissive building codes.”  Indeed, the make-or-break question hovering over CMHC’s design catalogue is whether municipalities will green-light these plans or simply find new ways to hold up approvals.   An axonometric of a rowhouse development from the Housing Catalogue, designed for Alberta. A team effort Janna Levitt, partner at LGA Architectural Partners, says that when CMHC issued an RFP for the design catalogue, her firm decided to pitch a team of architects and peer reviewers from across Canada, with LGA serving as project manager. After they were selected, Levitt says they had to quickly clarify a key detail, which was the assumption that the program could deliver pre-approved, permit-ready plans absent a piece of property to build on. “Even in 1947,” she says, “it wasn’t a permit set until you had a site.” LGA’s team and CMHC agreed to expand the scope of the assignment so that the finished product wasn’t just a catalogue of plans but also included details about local regulations and typical lot sizes. Re-Housing co-founder Michael Piper, an associate professor at U of T’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, came on board to carry out research on similar programs, and found initiatives in places like Georgia, Indiana and Texas. “I have not found any that moved forward,” he says. “Canada’s national design catalogue is pretty novel in that regard, which is exciting.” The noteworthy exceptions are California, which has made significant advances in recent years in pre-approving ADUs across the state, and British Columbia, which last fall released its own standardized design catalogue.  He also carried out a scan of land use and zoning rules in Ontario for 15 to 20 municipalities. “We looked to seetheir zoning permitted and what the rules were, and as you might expect, they’re all over the place,” he says. “Hence the challenge with the standardized design.” At present, high-level overviews for the 50 designs are available, including basic floor plans, 3D axonometrics, and building dimensions. Full architectural design packages are expected to be released later this year. Levitt says the architects on the team set out to come up with designs that used wood frame construction, had no basements, and drew on vernacular architectural styles. They researched representative lot sizes in the various regions, and configured designs to suit small, medium and large properties. Some versions have accessibility features—CMHC’s remit included both accessible units and aging-in-place as objectives—or can be adapted later on.  As for climate and energy efficiency considerations, the recommended materials include low-carbon components and cladding. The designs do reflect geographical variations, but Levitt says there’s only so much her team could do in terms of energy modelling. “How do you do heat energy calculations when you don’t have a site? You don’t have north, south, east, westand you don’t have what zone are you in. In B.C. and Ontario, there are seven climatic regions. There was a lot of working through those kinds of very practical requirements, which were very complicated and actually fed into the design work quite significantly.” As Levitt adds, “in 1947, there were no heat loss models because the world wasn’t like that.” LGA provided the architects on the team with templates for interior elements, such as bathrooms, as well as standards for features such as bedroom sizes, dining areas, storage sufficient to hold strollers, and access to outdoor space, either at grade or via a balcony. “We gathered together these ideas about the quality of life that we wanted baked into each of the designs, so thatexpressed a really good quality of life—modest but good quality,” she says. “It’s not about the finishes. People had to be able to live there and live there well.” “This isn’t a boutique home solution,” Whitzman says. “This is a cheap and mass-produced solution. And compared to other cheap and mass-produced solutions, whether they be condos or suburban subdivisions,look fine to my untrained eye.” A selection of Housing Catalogue designs for the Atlantic region. Will it succeed?  With the plans now public, the other important variables, besides their conformity with local bylaws, have to do with cost and visibility to potential users, including homeowners, contractors and developers specializing in smaller-scale projects.  On the costing side, N. Barry Lyons Consultantshas been retained by CMHC to develop models to accompany the design catalogue, but those figures have yet to be released. While pricing is inevitably dynamic, the calculus behind the entire exercise turns on whether the savings on design outlays and the use of prefabricated components will make such small-scale projects pencil, particularly at a time when there are live concerns about tariffs, skilled labour shortages, and supply chain interruptions on building materials.  Finally, there’s the horse-to-water problem. While the design catalogue has received a reasonable amount of media attention since it launched, does CMHC need to find ways to market it more aggressively? “From my experience,” says Levitt, “they are extremely proactive, and have assembled a kind of dream team with a huge range of experience and expertise. They are doing very concerted and deep work with municipalities across the country.” Proper promotion, observes Moffatt, “is going to be important in particular, just for political reasons. The prime minister has made a lot of bold promises about500,000 homes.” Carney’s pledge to get Canada back into building will take time to ramp up, he adds. “I do think the federal government needs to visibly show progress, and if they can’t point to abuilding across the road, they could at least, `We’ve got this design catalogue. Here’s how it works. We’ve already got so many builders and developers looking at this.’”  While it’s far too soon to draw conclusions about the success of this ambitious program, Levitt is well aware of the long and rich legacy of the predecessor CMHC catalogues from the late 40s and the 1950s, all of which gave many young Canadian architects their earliest commissions and then left an enduring aesthetic on countless communities across Canada.   She hopes the updated 21st-century catalogue—fitted out as it is for 21st-century concerns about carbon, resilience and urban density—will acquire a similar cachet.  “These are architecturally designed houses for a group of people across the country who will have never lived in an architecturally designed house,” she muses. “I would love it if, 80 years from now, the consistent feedbackwas that they were able to live generously and well in those houses, and that everything was where it should be.” ARCHITECTURE FIRM COLLABORATORS Michael Green Architecture, Dub Architects, 5468796 Architecture Inc, Oxbow Architecture, LGA Architectural Partners, KANVA Architecture, Abbott Brown Architects, Taylor Architecture Group  As appeared in the June 2025 issue of Canadian Architect magazine  The post A housing design catalogue for the 21st century appeared first on Canadian Architect. #housing #design #catalogue #21st #century

Few issues in the U.S. today are as controversial as diversity, equity, and inclusion—commonly referred to as DEI. Although the term didn’t come into common usage until the 21st century, DEI is best understood as the latest stage in a long American project. Its egalitarian principles are seen in America’s founding documents, and its roots lie in landmark 20th-century efforts such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and affirmative action policies, as well as movements for racial justice, gender equity, disability rights, veterans, and immigrants. These movements sought to expand who gets to participate in economic, educational, and civic life. DEI programs, in many ways, are their legacy. Critics argue that DEI is antidemocratic, that it fosters ideological conformity, and that it leads to discriminatory initiatives, which they say disadvantage white people and undermine meritocracy. Those defending DEI argue just the opposite: that it encourages critical thinking and promotes democracy—and that attacks on DEI amount to a retreat from long-standing civil rights law. Yet missing from much of the debate is a crucial question: What are the tangible costs and benefits of DEI? Who benefits, who doesn’t, and what are the broader effects on society and the economy? As a sociologist, I believe any productive conversation about DEI should be rooted in evidence, not ideology. So let’s look at the research. Who gains from DEI? In the corporate world, DEI initiatives are intended to promote diversity, and research consistently shows that diversity is good for business. Companies with more diverse teams tend to perform better across several key metrics, including revenue, profitability, and worker satisfaction. Businesses with diverse workforces also have an edge in innovation, recruitment, and competitiveness, research shows. The general trend holds for many types of diversity, including age, race, and ethnicity, and gender. A focus on diversity can also offer profit opportunities for businesses seeking new markets. Two-thirds of American consumers consider diversity when making their shopping choices, a 2021 survey found. So-called “inclusive consumers” tend to be female, younger, and more ethnically and racially diverse. Ignoring their values can be costly: When Target backed away from its DEI efforts, the resulting backlash contributed to a sales decline. But DEI goes beyond corporate policy. At its core, it’s about expanding access to opportunities for groups historically excluded from full participation in American life. From this broader perspective, many 20th-century reforms can be seen as part of the DEI arc. Consider higher education. Many elite U.S. universities refused to admit women until well into the 1960s and 1970s. Columbia, the last Ivy League university to go co-ed, started admitting women in 1982. Since the advent of affirmative action, women haven’t just closed the gender gap in higher education—they outpace men in college completion across all racial groups. DEI policies have particularly benefited women, especially white women, by expanding workforce access. Similarly, the push to desegregate American universities was followed by an explosion in the number of Black college students—a number that has increased by 125% since the 1970s, twice the national rate. With college gates open to more people than ever, overall enrollment at U.S. colleges has quadrupled since 1965. While there are many reasons for this, expanding opportunity no doubt plays a role. And a better-educated population has had significant implications for productivity and economic growth. The 1965 Immigration Act also exemplifies DEI’s impact. It abolished racial and national quotas, enabling the immigration of more diverse populations, including from Asia, Africa, southern and eastern Europe, and Latin America. Many of these immigrants were highly educated, and their presence has boosted U.S. productivity and innovation. Ultimately, the U.S. economy is more profitable and productive as a result of immigrants. What does DEI cost? While DEI generates returns for many businesses and institutions, it does come with costs. In 2020, corporate America spent an estimated billion on DEI programs. And in 2023, the federal government spent more than million on DEI, including million by the Department of Health and Human Services and another million by the Department of Defense. The government will no doubt be spending less on DEI in 2025. One of President Donald Trump’s first acts in his second term was to sign an executive order banning DEI practices in federal agencies—one of several anti-DEI executive orders currently facing legal challenges. More than 30 states have also introduced or enacted bills to limit or entirely restrict DEI in recent years. Central to many of these policies is the belief that diversity lowers standards, replacing meritocracy with mediocrity. But a large body of research disputes this claim. For example, a 2023 McKinsey & Company report found that companies with higher levels of gender and ethnic diversity will likely financially outperform those with the least diversity by at least 39%. Similarly, concerns that DEI in science and technology education leads to lowering standards aren’t backed up by scholarship. Instead, scholars are increasingly pointing out that disparities in performance are linked to built-in biases in courses themselves. That said, legal concerns about DEI are rising. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice have recently warned employers that some DEI programs may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Anecdotal evidence suggests that reverse discrimination claims, particularly from white men, are increasing, and legal experts expect the Supreme Court to lower the burden of proof needed by complainants for such cases. The issue remains legally unsettled. But while the cases work their way through the courts, women and people of color will continue to shoulder much of the unpaid volunteer work that powers corporate DEI initiatives. This pattern raises important equity concerns within DEI itself. What lies ahead for DEI? People’s fears of DEI are partly rooted in demographic anxiety. Since the U.S. Census Bureau projected in 2008 that non-Hispanic white people would become a minority in the U.S by the year 2042, nationwide news coverage has amplified white fears of displacement. Research indicates many white men experience this change as a crisis of identity and masculinity, particularly amid economic shifts such as the decline of blue-collar work. This perception aligns with research showing that white Americans are more likely to believe DEI policies disadvantage white men than white women. At the same time, in spite of DEI initiatives, women and people of color are most likely to be underemployed and living in poverty regardless of how much education they attain. The gender wage gap remains stark: In 2023, women working full time earned a median weekly salary of compared with for men—just 83.6% of what men earned. Over a 40-year career, that adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost earnings. For Black and Latina women, the disparities are even worse, with one source estimating lifetime losses at and million, respectively. Racism, too, carries an economic toll. A 2020 analysis from Citi found that systemic racism has cost the U.S. economy trillion since 2000. The same analysis found that addressing these disparities could have boosted Black wages by trillion, added up to billion in lifetime earnings through higher college enrollment, and generated trillion in business revenue, creating 6.1 million jobs annually. In a moment of backlash and uncertainty, I believe DEI remains a vital if imperfect tool in the American experiment of inclusion. Rather than abandon it, the challenge now, from my perspective, is how to refine it: grounding efforts not in slogans or fear, but in fairness and evidence. Rodney Coates is a professor of critical race and ethnic studies at Miami University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. #what #dei #actually #does #economy

Designing without modern tools isn’t regression — it’s a stance against authoritative, tech-imposed aesthetics.The Art of Suminagashi Japanese Marbling | Image source: youtube.comI find most design trends irritating — not because they exist, but because too many designers follow them instead of forging their own. Then again, maybe that’s just my rebellious nature talking.There’s nothing wrong with using trends for inspiration or to practice various techniques. But latching onto a popular aesthetic as if it’s your identity? That’s just uninspired — especially if you consider yourself a creative professional.Take Airbnb’s recent Lava icon format — currently causing quite a stir among designers. The icons stand out for their dimensional look — a so-called break from the flat, minimal trend that’s really just recycled Web 2.0 aesthetics. But more importantly than the visuals, they use a custom animation format. of using standard video, Lottie, or WebGL, Airbnb created a lightweight proprietary format for animated UI icons. It supports transparency and runs smoothly across platforms using their own playback engine. The result is a low-key, technically efficient solution tailored to their design system.Cool? Sure. Game-changing? Not really.It’s just another gimmicky trend that’ll be overused by designers until the next shiny thing comes out of Silicon Valley — assuming we’re still employed by then. But hey, I’m sure our AI overlords will credit us in the footnotes.The video below by Michal Malewicz shows just how effortlessly AI can generate these dynamic icons — maybe too effortlessly. Aside from the animation, these icons remind me of 2010 all over again — minus the part where designers actually, you know, design stuff. new aesthetic shift sparked a question in my mind — why are we so quick to react and follow design trends instead of creating them? And more importantly, why are we feeding those trends with the same technology that threatens to hollow out the value of creative work? That’s like a sheep teaching wolves how to season meat — it’s the opposite of self-preservation.Designers already have the tools — not just digital, but physical, emotional, and cultural — to shape what comes next. And with AI stripping creative work of depth and nuance, maybe the next shift shouldn’t be about advancing the tech, but about returning to what’s raw, handmade, and unpredictable. Less about outcomes, more about process.I’m not talking about arts and crafts. I’m talking about a process that requires both expertise and experimentation — where clear vision meets material intuition. Where the story of creation is just as important as the final result. And where the medium isn’t chosen for convenience, but for its ability to convey meaning through the craft itself.Most contemporary design leans on minimalism and “clean” aesthetics — traits that aren’t principles so much as trends, and like any trend, they’re fleeting. What passes for “usable” today often masks a deeper fear of disruption — a retreat into sterile, risk-averse conformity at the expense of expressive creativity.Maybe it’s time to be bold. Brave. Experimental. Unruly. Time to stop letting authoritarian tech giants like Google and Apple dictate the future of design. Maybe it’s time for humans — driven by imagination, emotion, and real creativity — to shape what comes next.We don’t need permission to create work that feels alive and personal. The trend should be the process of human craft, not the outcome.That being said, here are a few hands-on techniques that can reignite that spark — or at least offer an inspirational avenue for expression and experimentation as technology slowly strips away our creative soul.Hand Sketching with PurposeImage source: RedditNot as a wireframe or placeholder, but as a final aesthetic choice. Embrace smudges, uneven line weight, imperfect perspective — these things inject humanity. Digitize them, yes — but don’t correct them. The imperfections are the point.SuminagashiImage source: suminagashi.comThis ancient Japanese technique involves dropping ink onto water and manipulating the patterns with breath or tools before laying paper on top to capture the design. The result is a one-of-a-kind, fluid composition that feels spontaneous and alive. Scanning these marbled textures into digital work adds unpredictability and human touch.Gelli PrintingImage source: schack.orgA monoprinting technique using gelatin-based plates. You apply ink or paint to a soft surface and press textures into it — leaves, string, mesh — then transfer it to paper. The result is a layered, atmospheric texture full of nuance. Perfect for backgrounds, overlays, or subtle storytelling.Block PrintingImage source: mokuartstudio.comOne of the oldest and most tactile forms of printmaking. Carve a design into wood, linoleum, or rubber, roll ink across the surface, and press it onto paper or fabric. The pressure inconsistencies, ink bleed, and subtle misalignments give each print its own personality. Digitizing these prints introduces organic irregularity into otherwise sterile digital layouts.Photocopy TransferImage source: billchambers.netThis hands-on technique — something I picked up from a fellow faculty member at LIU — involves printing a design with a laser printer, placing it face-down on a new surface, and applying an alcohol-based solvent like acetone or eucalyptus oil to transfer the toner. The result is rough, imperfect, and full of texture — like a ghost of the original image. Perfect for adding grit, unpredictability, and a touch of rebellion to otherwise sterile digital work.Stop-Motion MicrointeractionsImage source: BehanceCreate frame-by-frame animations using physical materials — paper cutouts, clay, thread, even coffee stains. Photograph each frame and compile them into short animations using GIF or Lottie formats. These can be used for loading states, transitions, tooltips, or hover effects — anywhere your interface needs a moment of life.Analog CollageImage source: reddit.comRip up magazines. Cut out old photos. Layer tape, torn paper, brush strokes. Glue it down, scan it in. This physical interaction with media encourages spontaneous composition and leads to surprising juxtapositions that would never happen inside a grid system.Film Photography as Texture SourceImage source: behance.netShoot 35mm film, cross-process it, scratch the negatives, scan it all. Use these as grainy, unpredictable texture layers. It gives your design a worn-in honesty, unlike the sterile perfection of stock photos or digital renders.Hand-Lettering with Intentional InconsistencyImage source: youtube.comNot polished script or Instagram calligraphy. We’re talking rough, personal letterforms drawn with pencil, marker, or brush — complete with wobbly baselines, inconsistent kerning, and raw edges. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s character.Material Experiments with Failure in MindImage source: threadsmagazine.comWork with candle wax, clay, bleach on paper, or burning the edges of cardboard. These experiments are often messy and may “fail” by conventional standards — but the accidents are often the most expressive parts.Some might argue that AI can replicate the outcomes of these techniques — and they’d be right. But that misses the point. These aren’t just aesthetic choices — they’re philosophical stances. They resist convenience. They reject the sterile, corporate polish that defines so much of modern design. They demand time, intention, and effort. And that’s exactly the point.AI can churn out a thousand “good-enough” designs in seconds. And maybe that’s fine for companies that don’t value creativity. But for those of us who do? That’s not the bar. It’s an insult. I refuse to let corporations and tech platforms strip away the very thing that gives so many designers a sense of purpose.I believe we should be working toward a future where what truly sets a designer apart is their willingness to get their hands dirty — to make mistakes, challenge convention, and find meaning in the mess of the process itself.That’s how you create a trend worth following — not by imitating the machine, literally or metaphorically, but by doing what it can not — creating from passion, intuition, resistance, and imperfection. By making the process — and the story behind it — part of the value, you restore meaning to the work.Maybe if we’re brave enough, honest enough, the next big design trend won’t come from Figma templates or top-down tech mandates. Maybe it’ll come from a torn piece of paper, a botched ink spill, or a stubborn pencil stroke. Maybe the next trend begins the moment we stop chasing — and start making again.Don’t miss out! Join my email list and receive the latest content.The next design trend should start with your hands, not a computer was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story. #next #design #trend #should #start

7 Best 50s Color Palettes that are “The Cat’s Pajamas” In this article:See more ▼Post may contain affiliate links which give us commissions at no cost to you.When I look for inspiration that balances nostalgia with timeless appeal, I always find myself drawn to the refined elegance of 1950s color schemes. There’s something undeniably charming about these palettes that evoke post-war optimism and domestic bliss. If you’re searching for color combinations that feel simultaneously fresh and comfortingly familiar, these 50s-inspired palettes might be exactly what your next project needs. I’ve compiled my favorite midcentury color combinations that continue to influence modern design sensibilities. 👋 Psst... Did you know you can get unlimited downloads of 59,000+ fonts and millions of other creative assets for just /mo? Learn more »The 8 Most Iconic 50s Color Palettes 1. Diner Delight #E30022 #FFFFFF #000000 #17B2E7 Nothing captures the spirit of 50s Americana quite like these bold, crisp colors inspired by classic diners. The striking contrast between the colors creates immediate visual impact.2. Atomic Pastels #CC2D30 #9BDBC1 #EFE8AD #AADD96 #E8A5AF This palette blends soft pastels with a punch of cherry red, echoing the optimistic, space-age aesthetic of the 1950s. It’s perfect for designs that aim to capture the era’s futuristic yet friendly vibe. 3. Midcentury Mint #80ADD7 #0ABDA0 #EBF2EA #D4DCA9 #BF9D7A A refreshing mix of cool blues and greens, balanced with warm neutrals. This palette reflects the clean lines and organic forms characteristic of mid-century modern design. 4. Lemon Meringue #FFD700 #40E0D0 #98FF98 #FFB6C1 Bright and cheerful, this palette combines sunny yellows with cool mints and pinks, reminiscent of 1950s kitchen appliances and decor.Get 300+ Fonts for FREEEnter your email to download our 100% free "Font Lover's Bundle". For commercial & personal use. No royalties. No fees. No attribution. 100% free to use anywhere. 5. Classic Creams #D0C195 #E2D9B3 #ECEAD3 #C9DCAF #BF9E86 Subtle and sophisticated, these muted tones were popular in 1950s interiors, offering a timeless elegance suitable for various design applications. 6. Diner Daze #EE4483 #24BAB9 #F3FF98 #FFFFFF #000000 A vibrant mix of pinks, teals, and yellows, this palette captures the lively atmosphere of 1950s diners, complete with neon signs and checkered floors. 7. Pop Culture Brights #FFB6C1 #40E0D0 #98FF98 #FFD700 Bold and playful, these colors were prevalent in 1950s pop culture, from fashion to advertising, embodying the era’s energetic and optimistic spirit. Why 50s Color Palettes Still Resonate Today Before diving deeper into these specific palettes, let’s explore why 50s colors continue to influence contemporary design. The 1950s represented a unique cultural moment – positioned between post-war optimism and pre-counterculture conformity. This era embraced both technological innovation and domestic comfort, resulting in color schemes that balanced forward-thinking excitement with homey reassurance. As a designer, I find that incorporating era-inspired colors into modern projects can add depth, warmth, and a touch of nostalgia that resonates with many people. The 50s palettes in particular have an enduring appeal because they offer a perfect balance – neither too bold nor too subtle, neither too serious nor too playful. They occupy that sweet spot of being distinctive without overwhelming the senses. How to Use 50s Color Palettes in Modern Design Now that we’ve explored these fantastic 50s-inspired palettes, you might be wondering how to incorporate them into contemporary projects without creating something that feels like a period piece. Here are some approaches I’ve found effective: 1. Modernize with Unexpected Pairings Try combining 50s colors with unexpected elements like ultra-modern typography or cutting-edge photography. I’ve found that the tension between the familiar colors and contemporary components creates designs that feel fresh yet grounded. 2. Adjust the Saturation The original 50s colors sometimes need slight adjustments for today’s digital environment. Try tweaking the saturation or brightness to give these classic hues a modern update. I often find that slightly desaturating brighter colors or adding richness to neutrals helps these palettes feel current. 3. Use as Secondary Elements If you’re concerned about going too retro, try using 50s colors as secondary elements in your design. A predominantly modern palette with strategic pops of midcentury color can create just the right amount of nostalgic flair without overwhelming the design. 4. Focus on Texture The 50s were as much about interesting textures as they were about colors. I love pairing these color palettes with appropriate textures – think boomerang patterns, atomic starbursts, or subtle linen textures – to enhance their midcentury feel in a sophisticated way. What Made These Colors Define the 50s? As someone fascinated by color psychology and cultural history, I find it particularly interesting to examine why these specific palettes dominated the 1950s: Post-War Prosperity: The bright, optimistic colors reflected economic growth and increasing consumer confidence after years of wartime austerity. Technological Advances: New manufacturing processes allowed for more consistent, vibrant colors in consumer goods and home décor. Cultural Shifts: The emphasis on domestic life and family values influenced the comforting, homey qualities of many popular color schemes. Media Influence: The expanding reach of television, magazines, and advertising helped standardize and spread certain color trends throughout American culture. Design Movements: The midcentury modern movement, with its clean lines and functional aesthetics, favored these particular color combinations. Understanding these influences helps explain why these colors feel simultaneously nostalgic and timeless – they were born from specific cultural circumstances yet tap into enduring human preferences. Implementing 50s Color Palettes Across Design Disciplines One thing I particularly appreciate about 50s color palettes is their remarkable versatility across different design fields: Product Design For product designers, 50s colors offer a perfect blend of approachability and distinctiveness. I’ve seen stunning contemporary appliances that incorporate midcentury palettes to create pieces that feel simultaneously nostalgic and cutting-edge. The key is balancing these vintage hues with modern materials and sleek forms. Digital Design In UI/UX design, 50s color combinations can create interfaces with personality without sacrificing usability. I find the balanced nature of these palettes particularly well-suited for creating hierarchical structures in interfaces – the contrasts are distinctive without being jarring. Environmental Design Retail spaces and restaurants can benefit enormously from strategic use of 50s color schemes. I’ve observed how these familiar yet distinctive palettes can instantly communicate a brand’s personality and create immersive environments that customers connect with emotionally. Fashion The cyclical nature of fashion means 50s colors regularly return to prominence. The current appreciation for quality basics and timeless style makes these color combinations particularly relevant now. I love seeing contemporary designers reinterpret these palettes with modern silhouettes and materials. Conclusion: Timeless Appeal with Modern Applications As we’ve explored these eight quintessential 50s color palettes, I hope you’ve gained appreciation for their enduring relevance and versatility. Whether you’re designing a retro-inspired brand identity, refreshing an interior space, or simply looking for color combinations with proven staying power, these midcentury palettes offer boundless possibilities. The beauty of 50s color schemes lies in their perfect balance – they’re distinctive enough to create character but restrained enough to remain timeless. They embody that rare quality of being simultaneously familiar and fresh, comforting and inspiring. So don’t hesitate to experiment with these classic combinations in your next project. The 50s may have been about conformity in some ways, but their color sensibilities offer contemporary designers a foundation for creating work that stands out while remaining accessible. Happy designing! Preston Lee Preston Lee is a graphic and web designer who grew up drawing, painting, and building with Lego. Okay, let's face it: he still does all of those things. But now, he gets paid to design websites, design graphics, write, and do all kinds of creative things. His advice has been featured by Entrepreneur, Inc, Forbes, Adobe, and many more. What Colors Make Blue?Blue is more than just a color—it’s an experience. When we encounter blue, we’re drawn to its tranquil beauty, finding...27 Famous Red Logos to Inspire YouRed is one of the most powerful colors in logo design. It’s bold, passionate, and impossible to ignore. I’ve spent...The Psychological Impact of Color in Graphic DesignYour brain processes color before words, making it incredibly powerful visual stimuli. If you use it strategically, you can subconsciously... #best #50s #color #palettes #that

Source: Daniel Gayne The announcement that his office would be actively exploring green belt land to develop on stole the show during Sadiq Khan’s big housing speech in Greenwich last Friday. But the consultation document published alongside the address – entitled Towards a new London Plan – was packed with clues about other ways in which the next plan could differ from the most recent one, which was adopted back in 2021. Target setting for social rent homes In a number of places, the consultation document makes it clear that the London mayor does not want to skimp on delivering homes for social rent. “The greatest affordable housing need is for social rent homes,” the document says. “A future approach could put more emphasis on this housing tenure in line with national policy. This includes setting specific targets for social rent and increasing the proportion of social rented homes secured through the planning system.” >> Also read: I make it a virtue that I’ve changed my mind: Khan talks up his green-belt U-turn but where might new homes be built? Interestingly, this would go beyond what has been implemented so far at the national level. Despite calls to do so from Florence Eshalomi, chair of the backbench housing select committee, central government has refrained from setting specific targets for the delivery of social housing. At a national level, Angela Rayner, Labour’s housing secretary, has been vocal in her support for the social rent tenure. But beyond rhetoric, relatively little policy supporting social rent development specifically has been forthcoming from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.  Khan’s consultation document is the first place we have seen some indication of how Labour’s support for an increase in homes for social rent might be realised. Source: MHCLG / FlickrThe consultation document sets out a number of measures to boost the provision of homes for social rent. Something which has been promised at a national level by the housing secretary, but without much policy detail Full replacement of social rent homes in estate regeneration and a new intermediate tenure Under the existing London Plan, estate regeneration schemes are only required to re-provide demolished social rent homes when the occupiers have a right to return. If there isn’t such a right, the floorspace can be re-provided as either social rent or London Affordable Rent. The consultation document suggests that the next London Plan “could require full replacement of social rent homes”, no matter whether or not there is a right to return. As well as prioritising homes for social rent, the consultation document has mooted the introduction of a new intermediate tenure type, which it said was “crucial for middle-income earners including key workers”. The next London Plan “could build on work already done by the mayor and introduce Key Worker Living Rent”, it said. It suggested that this new tenure type could be based on key workers’ incomes, rather than representing a set discount on market rates. Expanding the definition of build to rent Currently, the London Plan specifies build-to-rent schemesas comprising at least 50 units. But, according to the consultation document, this limit “does not necessarily need to apply”. It suggests that “if build to rent is to become more important in meeting housing needs, this definition could be expanded to support more diverse types of development”. Source: Daniel GayneSadiq Khan speaking in south-east London last week at the launch of the consultation on the next London Plan It also said that, beyond affordable housing thresholds, there may be “additional models to provide genuinely affordable housing” as part of BTR developments. “These would help meet housing need and align to the delivery and management model”. The consultation also stressed the need to strike the right balance in terms of encouraging other development types, such as co-living and purpose-built student accommodation, without setting out much detail on what the mayor’s team thinks that balance might be. Instead, it sought views on how a reasonable balance could be achieved. Revised policies on density and building height The mayor’s office indicated dissatisfaction with how tall building development is currently being handled across the city, noting that some boroughs had failed to identify suitable areas for tall building.  It suggested that the new plan “could take a more active role in identifying and defining tall building clusters” as well as setting out the building heights that “should be acceptable in principle in all locations across London that share certain characteristics”. It also mooted the possibility of setting a minimum height benchmark and a small site design code across London to support small site development and SMEs. Removal of duplicates between London Plan and national regulations The document identified a “confusing overlap of planning policies and building regulations”, which it proposed to remove. One example was overheating and ventilation, which has been subject to new national building regulation guidance since the last London Plan was published. “One option for the new London Plan could be to remove bespoke policies that cover these issues and rely on national building regulations to deal with ventilation and overheating,” it said. “This would make it simpler for applicants and planning officers to know what is expected from a planning application and support housing delivery.” >> Also read: Bennetts’ timber and straw robotics lab pilots new net zero carbon building standard >> Also read: Alma-nac: Doing architecture for free. Well, sometimes… What is the London Plan? The London Plan is the strategic spatial plan for Greater London, setting out strategy and requirements for homes, transport and other infrastructure. It sets out how the capital should develop over the next 20-25 years. When London boroughs write their own plans, they have to be in “general conformity” with the London Plan. The current plan was published in March 2021. The draft new plan will be published in 2026 for consultation. The new plan will then run from its adoption in 2027 until 2050, with regular updates.  On Friday, the mayor published an initial consultation paper featuring proposals that might be included in that draft. It gave a strong indication of his thinking and priorities. The plan also sets housing targets for each borough to achieve, which it bases on where homes might reasonably be built, rather than where local need arises. In other words, London is treated as one big housing market, despite having more than 30 planning authorities. #beyond #green #belt #review #five

As AI reshapes language, even the human voice becomes a pattern to be predicted, not a meaning to be ... More understood.getty Language is the foundation of business, culture, and consciousness. But AI isn’t just using our words—it’s reshaping them. Quietly, subtly, it’s dismantling the architecture of thought by eroding what we used to think: nouns. We used to believe that naming something gave it power. Giving a thing a noun means tethering it to meaning, identity, and memory. But in the age of AI, nouns are dissolving—not banned, not erased—but rendered functionally obsolete. And with them, our grasp on reality is starting to fray. AI and the Architecture of Thought AI doesn’t see the world in things. It sees the world in patterns—actions, probabilities, and prompts. A chair is no longer an object; it’s “something to sit on.” A self is no longer an identity; it’s “a collection of behaviors and preferences.” Even brands, once nouns wrapped in mythology, are being reconstituted as verbs. You don’t have a brand. You do a brand. This linguistic shift isn’t neutral. It’s a collapse of conceptual anchors. In generative systems, nouns aren’t centers of gravity. They’re scaffolding for action. This reflects a broader trend in how generative AI is reshaping communication across every industry. Recent research supports this trend. A study titled Playing with Words: Comparing the Vocabulary and Lexical Richness of ChatGPT and Humans found that ChatGPT’s outputs exhibit significantly lower lexical diversity than human writing. In particular, nouns and specific, stylistic words are often underused, suggesting that generative systems prioritize predictable, commonly used language while deprioritizing less frequent terms. Further analysis of 14 million PubMed abstracts revealed a measurable shift in word frequency post-AI adoption. Words like “delves” and “showcasing” surged, while others faded—showing that large language models are already reshaping vocabulary patterns at scale. Sound familiar? It should. AI’s Philosophical Ancestors: Orwell, Huxley, and the Future They Warned Us About To understand their relevance, it helps to recall what George Orwell and Aldous Huxley are most famous for. Orwell authored 1984, a bleak vision of the future where an authoritarian regime weaponizes language to suppress independent thought and rewrite history. His concept of Newspeak—a restricted, simplified language designed to make dissent unthinkable—has become a cultural shorthand for manipulative control. On the other hand, Huxley wrote Brave New World, which envisioned a society not characterized by overt oppression, but rather by engineered pleasure, distraction, and passive conformity. In his world, people are conditioned into compliance not through violence but through comfort, entertainment, and chemical sedation. Both men anticipated futures in which language and meaning are compromised, but in radically different ways. Together, they map the two poles of how reality can be reconditioned: by force or indulgence. Few realize that George Orwell was once a student of Aldous Huxley. In the late 1910s, while Orwellstudied at Eton, Huxley taught him French. Their relationship was brief but prophetic. Decades later, each would author the defining visions of dystopia—1984 and Brave New World. After reading 1984, Huxley wrote to Orwell with a haunting message: Whether in actual fact the policy of the boot-on-the-face can go on indefinitely seems doubtful… The future will be controlled by inflicting pleasure, not pain. And that’s precisely where we are now. Orwell feared control through surveillance and terror. Huxley feared control through indulgence and distraction. Generative AI, cloaked in helpfulness, embodies both. It doesn’t censor. It seduces. It doesn’t need Newspeak to delete ideas. It replaces them with prediction. In 1984, language was weaponized by force. In our world, it’s being reshaped by suggestion. What we have is not Artificial Intelligence—it’s Artificial Inference: trained not to understand but to remix, not to reason but to simulate. And this simulation brings us to a more profound loss: intersubjectivity. AI and the Loss of Intersubjectivity Humans learn, grow, and build reality through intersubjectivity—the shared context that gives language its weight. It allows us to share meaning, to agree on what a word represents, and to build mutual understanding through shared experiences. Without it, words float. AI doesn’t participate in intersubjectivity. It doesn’t share meaning—it predicts output. And yet, when someone asks an AI a question, they often believe the answer reflects their framing. It doesn’t. It reflects the average of averages, the statistical ghost of comprehension. The illusion of understanding is precise, polite, and utterly hollow. This is how AI reconditions reality at scale—not by force, but by imitation. The result? A slow, silent attrition of originality. Nouns lose their edges. Ideas lose their anchors. Authorship bleeds into prompting. And truth becomes whatever the model says most often. AI and Accountability: A Case Study in Trust and Miscommunication In one recent public example, Air Canada deployed an AI-powered chatbot to handle customer service inquiries. When a customer asked about bereavement fare discounts, the chatbot confidently invented a policy that didn’t exist. The airline initially tried to avoid responsibility, but the court disagreed. In February 2024, a tribunal ruled that Air Canada was liable for the misinformation provided by its chatbot. This wasn’t just a technical glitch—it was a trust failure. The AI-generated text sounded plausible, helpful, and human, but it lacked grounding in policy, context, or shared understanding. In effect, the airline’s brand spoke out of both sides of its mouth and cost them. This is the risk when language is generated without intersubjectivity, oversight, or friction. The Linguistic Drift of AI: What the Data Tells Us About Language Decay It’s not just theory—research is now quantifying how generative AI systems are shifting the landscape of language itself. A study titled Playing with Words: Comparing the Vocabulary and Lexical Richness of ChatGPT and Humans found that AI-generated outputs consistently use a narrower vocabulary, with significantly fewer nouns and stylistic words than human writing. Building on this, an analysis of over 14 million PubMed abstracts revealed measurable shifts in word frequency following the rise of LLM use. While many precise, technical nouns faded, terms like “delves” and “showcasing” surged. The shift is not random; it’s a statistically driven flattening of language, where standard, action-oriented, or stylistic terms are promoted, and specificity is sidelined. Some researchers link this to a broader problem known as “model collapse.” As AI models are increasingly trained on synthetic data, including their outputs, they may degrade over time. This leads to a feedback loop where less diverse, less semantically rich language becomes the norm. The result is a measurable reduction in lexical, syntactic, and semantic diversity—the very fabric of meaning and precision. The implications are vast. If AI systems are deprioritizing nouns at scale, then the structures we use to hold ideas—people, places, identities, and concepts—are being eroded. In real time, we are watching the grammatical infrastructure of human thought being reweighted by machines that do not think. What AI’s Language Shift Means for Brands and Business Strategy The erosion of language precision has significant implications for businesses, particularly those that rely on storytelling, branding, and effective communication. Brands are built on narrative consistency, anchored by nouns, identities, and associations that accumulate cultural weight over time. However, as AI systems normalize probabilistic language and predictive phrasing, even brand voice becomes a casualty of convergence. Differentiation erodes—messaging blurs. Trust becomes more complicated to earn and more uncomplicated to mimic. As this Forbes piece outlines, there are serious reasons why brands must be cautious with generative AI when it comes to preserving authenticity and voice. Moreover, AI-powered content platforms optimize for engagement, not meaning. Businesses relying on LLMs to generate customer-facing content risk flattening their uniqueness in favor of what’s statistically safe. Without human oversight, brand language may drift toward the generic, the probable, and the forgettable. How To Safeguard Meaning in the Age of AI Resist the flattening. Businesses and individuals alike must reclaim intentionality in language. Here’s how—and why it matters: If you don’t define your brand voice, AI will average it. If you don’t protect the language of your contracts, AI will remix it. If you don’t curate your culture, AI will feed it back to you—statistically safe but spiritually hollow. Double down on human authorship: Don’t outsource your voice to a model. Use AI for augmentation, not substitution. Protect linguistic originality: Encourage specificity, metaphor, and vocabulary diversity in your communication. Nouns matter. Audit your outputs: Periodically review AI-generated materials. Look for signs of drift—has your language lost its edge? Invest in language guardianship: Treat your brand’s lexicon like intellectual property. Define it. Defend it. Champion intersubjectivity: Allow shared context in both personal and professional communication. AI can simulate, but only humans can mean. The Necessity of Friction: Why Human Involvement Must Temper AI Friction isn’t a flaw in human systems—it’s a feature. It’s where meaning is made, thought is tested, and creativity wrestles with uncertainty. Automation is a powerful economic accelerant, but without deliberate pauses—without a human in the loop—we risk stripping away the qualities that make us human. Language is one of those qualities. Every hesitation, nuance, and word choice reflects cognition, culture, and care. Remove the friction, and you remove the humanity. AI can offer speed, fluency, and pattern-matching, but it can’t provide presence, and presence is where meaning lives. AI’s Closing Refrain: A Call to Remember Meaning Emily M. Bender, a professor of computational linguistics at the University of Washington, has emerged as one of the most principled and prescient critics of large language models. In her now-famous co-authored paper, "On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots," she argues that these systems don’t understand language—they merely remix it. They are, in her words, “stochastic parrots”: machines that generate plausible-sounding language without comprehension or intent. Yet we’re letting those parrots draft our emails, write our ads, and even shape our laws. We’re allowing models trained on approximations to become arbiters of communication, culture, and identity. This is not language—it’s mimicry at scale. And mimicry, unchecked, becomes a distortion. When AI outputs are mistaken for understanding, the baseline of meaning erodes. The problem isn’t just that AI might be wrong. It’s that it sounds so right, we stop questioning it. In the name of optimization, we risk erasing the texture of human communication. Our metaphors, our double meanings, our moments of productive ambiguity—these are what make language alive. Remove that, and a stream of consensus-safe, risk-averse echo remains. Functional? Yes. Meaningful? Not really. The stakes aren’t just literary—they’re existential. If language is the connective tissue between thought and reality, and if that tissue is replaced with statistical scaffolding, thinking becomes outsourced. Once sharpened by friction, our voices become blurred in a sea of plausible phrasings. Without intersubjectivity, friction, or nouns, we are scripting ourselves out of the story, one autocomplete at a time We are not being silenced. We are being auto-completed. And the most dangerous part? We asked for it. Before we ask what AI can say next, we should ask: What has already gone unsaid? In this quiet war, we don’t lose language all at once. We lose it word by word—until we forget we ever had something to say. I asked brand strategist and storyteller Michelle Garside, whose work spans billion-dollar brands and purpose-driven founders, to share her perspective on what’s at risk as automation flattened language. Her response was both precise and profound: If language is being flattened, we need more people doing the opposite: excavating. Listening for what’s buried beneath the noise. Uncovering the phrase that unlocks the person. That’s not a prompt—it’s a process. And it’s a deeply human one. When someone says something that lands—not because it sounds good, but because it’s true. You can see it in their body. You can feel it in the silence that follows. No algorithm can replicate that because that moment isn’t statistical. It’s sacred. The risk isn’t just that AI will get things wrong. It’s that it will sound just right enough to stop us from looking deeper. To stop us from asking what’s real. To stop us from finding the words only we could say. We don’t need more words. We need more meaning. And meaning isn’t generated. It’s remembered. When it comes to language and AI, that’s the line to carry forward—not just because it sounds good, but because it’s true. #rewriting #reality #one #word #time