Architizer is excited to announce that Daniel Libeskind, one of the most visionary figures in global architecture, has joined the jury for the 2025 Vision Awards. Known for his emotive, idea-driven architecture and deeply symbolic design language, Libeskind’s presence brings immense creative weight to a program that celebrates the most powerful architectural images and concepts shaping the future of the built environment. Libeskind will review entries submitted in an expanded Vision Awards program, which invites architects, designers, photographers, videographers, rendering artists, model makers and students to enter their work for global recognition and publication in print. The Main Entry Deadline is June 6th, 2025, so get started on your entry today: Enter the Vision Awards Over the course of his storied career, Libeskind has built a portfolio that transcends typology and geography. His seminal project, the Jewish Museum Berlin, redefined the relationship between architecture and memory, setting a new standard for how buildings can engage with history and human experience. Since then, he has completed groundbreaking cultural landmarks around the world — from the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, to the Denver Art Museum, to the Military History Museum in Dresden — each one a testament to his ability to turn abstract concepts into built form. In 2003, Libeskind was selected to design the master plan for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, a project that required not only architectural vision, but deep emotional sensitivity. His design emphasized resilience, remembrance, and rebirth — values that continue to define his work today. Studio Libeskind also has notable conceptual or planned projects that form powerful cases studies in architectural ideation, including the Kurdistan Museum, designed as “the first major center in the Kurdistan Region for the history and culture of the Kurdish people.” Start My Entry Early sketches for the Kurdistan Museum by Studio Libeskind, Iraq This lifelong pursuit of the profound makes Libeskind is an ideal fit to judge the Vision Awards. A passionate advocate for architectural representation as a creative act, Libeskind’s design process is rooted in drawing, sketching, and conceptual storytelling. “My mother told me if I were an artist, I’d be so poor I wouldn’t even be able to afford a pencil,” said Libeskind in conversation with Architizer at his studio in Lower Manhattan. “‘You should become an architect,’ she said, ‘because you can always be an artist in architecture.’” As a juror for the 2025 Vision Awards, Libeskind will bring a critical eye to 50+ award categories that explore visual storytelling, conceptual clarity, and emotional impact — from architectural drawings and models to unbuilt projects that speculate on the future of cities, culture, and the human condition. Enter the Vision Awards National Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names by Studio Libeskind, Amsterdam, Netherlands | Popular Choice Winner, Religious Buildings and Memorials, 10th Annual  A+Awards Joining Libeskind on the 2025 Vision Awards jury is a distinguished panel of professionals from various disciplines, including: Steven Holl, Founding Principal, Steven Holl Architects. Winka Dubbeldam, Founding Principal, Archi-Tectonics and Director & CEO, SCI-Arc. Sanjay Puri, Founding Principal, Sanjay Puri Architects. Suchi Reddy, Founding Principal, ReddyMade. Arjun Desai and Katherine Chia, Founding Principals, Desai Chia Architecture. This multidisciplinary jury reflects the Vision Awards’ commitment to honoring a broad spectrum of architectural creativity and innovation. View the complete Vision Awards jury here. Start My Entry Early sketch and photograph of the Imperial War Museum North by Studio Libeskind, Manchester, United Kingdom “I remember when there were all these people in the studio, like draftsmen, doing chores,” Libeskind recalled in his interview with Architizer. “Now, creating architecture is like a performance. It’s beautiful at every stage.” It is these ‘stages’ that will be given the spotlight in the Vision Awards, as the art of creative iteration — whether through drawing, rendering, model making, video or photography — is celebrated on a global stage. Libeskind’s presence underscores the Vision Awards’ mission to elevate not only how architecture is built, but how it is imagined, represented, and shared. With his guidance, this year’s jury will recognize submissions that embody bold thinking, narrative depth, and artistic rigor. Enter the 2025 Vision Awards today for the opportunity to have your work seen by Daniel Libeskind and other global design leaders. The Main Entry Deadline is June 6th, 2025. Start Submission The post Daniel Libeskind Joins the Vision Awards Jury, Bringing Emotive Design to the Fore appeared first on Journal.

Sergio Montúfar, “Cosmic Fire,” Volcán Acatenango, Guatemala. All images courtesy of the Milky Way Photographer of the Year, shared with permission The Brilliant Milky Way Connects Photographers Around the Globe and Beyond in an Annual Contest May 19, 2025 NaturePhotography Grace Ebert Each night, the Milky Way decorates darkened skies around the globe with a streak of glimmering stars and pink-orange dust. Stunning in its own right, our galaxy is ever more dazzling in the images topping the 2025 Milky Way Photographer of the Year contest. The annual competition, hosted by Capture the Atlas, received more than 6,000 submissions in its eighth year. Winning shots are each from a different location, including amid the moai sculptures of Easter Island, atop Taiwan’s Hehuan Mountain, and Yemen’s remote Socotra Island. For the first time, there’s even a view of the Milky Way from aboard the International Space Station, which astronaut Don Pettit captured while Earth glitters below. Rositsa Dimitrova, “The Night Guardians,” Easter Island, Chile While diverse in geography, approach, and technique, all of the photos are guided by the brilliant band of light in the distance. See all 25 winners on Capture the Atlas. Benjamin Barakat, “Bottle Tree Paradise,” Socotra, Yemen Marcin Rosadziński, “Stairway to Heaven,” Madeira Island, Portugal Don Pettit, “One in a Billion,” International Space Station Kavan Chay, “Evolution of Stars,” Otago, New Zealand Luis Cajete, “The Wave,” Coyote Buttes, Utah, U.S. Max Inwood, “A Sea of Lupines,” Lake Tekapo, New Zealand Ethan Su, “Blosoom,” Hehuan Mountain Dark Sky Park, Taiwan Anthony Lopez, “A Stellar View From The Cave,” Saint Raphael, France Next article

Architizer’s Vision Awards are back! The global awards program honors the world’s best architectural concepts, ideas and imagery. Submit your work ahead of the Main Entry deadline on June 6th! Learn More About Vision Awards It’s time to give some overdue attention to the people who shape architecture in ways a floor plan never could: architectural photographers and videographers. You’ve captured the atmosphere of a space before the concrete set. You’ve told a story that made someone feel a building halfway across the world. You’ve distilled the soul of a space into a single frame (or a few perfectly edited minutes). You’re a photographer, a videographer, but above of all — a storyteller. And now, there’s an award that sees what you do for what it truly is: architectural work. With that in mind, we want to share a few reasons why architectural photographers and videographers deserve the recognition buildings usually get — along with a handful of Vision Awards categories made specifically for the people behind the camera. From stills of interiors and exteriors to categories that focus on mood, detail and narrative, there’s room for every perspective to find its place. 1. Cameras frame how the world sees architecture. Photo by Shoayb Khattab, Special Mention, Photographer of the Year, 2023 Architizer Vision Awards Apart from documenting what a building actually looks like, what distinguishes good architectural photography is the way it gives people a sense of what it feels like to be there. The weight of the materials, the quality of the light, the atmosphere of the space — it can all come through. When it’s done well, you can almost imagine the sound of your footsteps on the floor. Photographers and videographers decide which parts of a project become visible and which ones fade into the background. You choose what gets shown: the angle, the light, the moment. That version often becomes the one people remember, shaping how they understand a project and what stays with them long after. Front of House/Back of House by John Muggenborg Architectural Photography, Studio Winner, Interior Photograph, 2023 Architizer Vision Awards Through framing, pacing and mood, the image offers legibility. It shows how a space works, where it opens up, where it holds back, where it asks for attention. If your work helps architecture stay visible, understandable and alive in the public imagination, the Vision Awards were designed to recognize exactly that. Explore these categories (and more) at this year’s Vision Awards: Exterior Photograph – For capturing how a building meets the world around it; Interior Photograph – For the qualities of light, texture and space that unfold inside; Building Portrait (Video) – For architectural films that bring movement and life to the frame; Color Photograph – For visual narratives shaped by tone, contrast and atmosphere; Black & White Photograph – For images that focus on structure, light and clarity. 2. Cameras capture what architects can’t put on paper. CREATING THE OSSTF WITH MASS TIMBER by Salina Kassam PHOTOGRAPHY, Finalist, Architecture + Photography, 12th Annual A+Awards CREATING THE OSSTF WITH MASS TIMBER by Salina Kassam PHOTOGRAPHY, Finalist, Architecture + Photography, 12th Annual A+Awards Architecture takes time. And along the way, there are moments worth seeing — materials arriving on site, something being installed for the first time, the way a space starts to take shape before it’s fully done. These stages often go unrecorded, but they reveal just as much as the final result. They show how a project was built, not just what it became. Shanshui Firewood Garden by Mix Architecture, Popular Choice Winner, Sustainable Hospitality Building, 11th Annual A+Awards | Photo by Arch-Exist Even once a building is complete, plans and diagrams can only tell part of the story. They explain how things work, but not how they feel. A drawing can show you where the windows are, but not how the light actually moves through the space. Good photography and video pick up where the technical information stops. They make the atmosphere visible. If your work captures process, mood or the details in between, the Vision Awards offer categories that value the full story — not just the finished product. Categories that might be a good fit for you include: Making Of (Video) – For films that follow the progress of a project from idea to built form; Architecture & Details – For images that focus on texture, surface and material precision; Architecture & Atmosphere – For visual work that brings out tone, timing and ambient light; Experimental (Video) – For creative approaches that rethink how architecture is documented. 3. Cameras show what (and who) architecture is really for. Mikimoto Ginza 2, Tokyo by Stephanie Mills, Special Mention, Interior Photograph, 2023 Architizer Vision Awards Architecture exists to be used. But it’s one thing to plan how a space will function and another to see it in action. Photography and video reveal how people actually move through a building — where they slow down, where they gather, how they occupy space over time. Photo by Philippe Sarfati, Professional Winner, Architectural Photographer of the Year, 2023 Architizer Vision Awards Including people in the frame does more than show activity. It helps us understand proportion. A lone figure in a long corridor. A crowd moving through a narrow threshold. These moments give us a sense of scale that drawings can’t. They show how large or intimate a space feels, how open or compressed, how formal or relaxed. If your work focuses on lived experience and human connection to space, these categories highlight exactly that perspective: Architecture & People – For capturing how human presence gives meaning to a space; Architecture & Urban Life – For movement, density and everyday patterns in the built environment; Profile or Interview (Video) – For stories centered on the people behind or within architecture; Interior or Exterior Photograph – For spaces that hold real use and human scale. 4. You turn representation into interpretation. Every building has a concept behind it—a guiding idea that shaped the form, the material choices, the layout. But that idea isn’t always immediately visible. Sometimes it only becomes clear if you know where to look. Through photography and video, you help surface it. You draw attention to what matters, whether it’s contrast or calm, complexity or restraint. Tower 15 by OODA Architecture, Jury Winner, Multi-Unit Housing, 12th Annual A+Awards | Photo by Fernando Guerra | FG+SG Even the most straightforward image involves decisions: where to stand, what to include, when to shoot. These choices are subtle, but they add up to a kind of authorship. Over time, they influence how a project is read, how it’s remembered and what kind of impact it has. Your work doesn’t just communicate what’s there. It tells a version of the story — one that might otherwise go unseen. Photo by NING WANG, Special Mention, Architectural Photographer of the Year, 2023 Architizer Vision Awards If your work is guided by atmosphere, tone or conceptual clarity, the Vision Awards recognize how those choices shape architectural meaning through these categories and more: Architecture & Atmosphere – For images that evoke feeling through time, light or weather; Architecture & People – For work that draws out human stories and interactions; Architecture & Environment – For interpretations that frame architecture in relation to its context; Experimental (Video) – For films that push the format or shift the lens entirely Any Video Category – For projects that use structure, motion or mood to frame architectural intent. 5. You’re building architecture’s visual legacy. Photo by NING WANG, Special Mention, Architectural Photographer of the Year, 2023 Architizer Vision Awards Every building has a moment when it’s new. But that moment passes quickly. Over time, materials weather, programs change and additions are made. What stays, what gets remembered, is often the way it was first captured. Photos and films become the record. They’re what future clients see. What ends up in books, archives or public memory. Your work might be the only version of the project that people engage with once the building has changed, closed or disappeared. That long-term story deserves a platform. And the Vision Awards and all its different categories exist to make sure it has one. Get the Recognition You Deserve — Submit for the Vision Awards Photo by Kevin Scott, Special Mention, Architectural Photographer Of The Year, 2023 Architizer Vision Awards The Vision Awards were created to recognize the people who shape architecture through images and ideas. That includes the concept designers, the renderers, the model-makers and just as importantly, the photographers and videographers whose work becomes the lasting record. Your images are what people remember. They’re what circulate, what get published, what define how a project is understood long after the fact. The program includes dedicated accolades like Photographer of the Year and Videographer of the Year, alongside a full set of categories for still and moving images. Winners are featured across Architizer’s global platforms, published in our annual print book How to Visualize Architecture and celebrated by a jury of industry leaders. It’s visibility, credibility and long-term recognition — at a global scale. If your work tells the story of architecture (how it feels, how it works, how it lives), this is your chance to step into the spotlight. Learn More About Vision Awards Architizer’s Vision Awards are back! The global awards program honors the world’s best architectural concepts, ideas and imagery. Submit your work ahead of the Main Entry deadline on June 6th! The post 5 Reasons Why Architectural Photographers and Videographers Deserve the Spotlight appeared first on Journal.

One of the most comfortable bags we've ever used. This sling bag from Peak Design's new range is lightweight, practical and perfect for outdoor types — but how suitable is it for photographers?

It doesn't matter where you go, or who you talk to, in the creative industries right now. There's one tool that we're about hearing, over and over, again: Adobe Express. It seems like everyone from content creators to marketing professionals, photographers to animators, are discovering that they can use it to create professional content, quickly and easily, and without a big learning curve. To discover more, we spoke with two Adobe Express Ambassadors: Angel White, a small business advocate focused on entrepreneur wellbeing, and Aseil Amgheib, founder and lead graphic designer at Design Wolf LDN. Their stories reveal some of the biggest benefits of using Adobe Express, and they offer their personal tips on getting the most out of the software. "It's such a game-changer!" Aseil's journey to founding Design Wolf LDN took several creative turns, from earning a first-class honours degree in Interior Architecture to working on Netflix sets and fashion shoots before finding her true calling in brand design. Throughout this evolution, Adobe tools such as Photoshop and After Effects have been a constant companion. When she launched a design agency, though, Aseil discovered how Adobe Express could transform her workflow, particularly for clients requiring regular content. "I had retainer clients who needed work every month," she explains. "I used to spend hours coming up with ideas and designing brand templates for them. Then I discovered Adobe Express, and it made my life so much easier. As it evolved, so did my workflow. I could schedule posts, link client accounts, and create brand kits that made designing for clients way faster. Now I use it alongside Acrobat, and honestly, the two together are a chef's kiss!" For Aseil, the platform offers the perfect balance between pro-grade design capabilities and practical efficiency. "I'm on Illustrator every day, but sometimes I just want to design something quickly without overthinking it," she shares. "I've already set up a Design Wolf brand kit with our colours and fonts, so I don't get distracted. I just design on the go." This efficiency extends to cross-platform content creation, an increasingly important aspect of digital marketing. "The best part is that I can instantly resize content for other platforms. We've been growing our Pinterest, so that feature has been a lifesaver!" "It's like having a design team in your phone" While Aseil is a professional designer, Angel White's experience demonstrates how the platform empowers those without formal design training. Based in Hull, Angel runs multiple businesses including Pink Angel Studios and The Small Biz Angel, working from a renovated pink caravan. Her mission focuses specifically on supporting fellow entrepreneurs with both practical skills and wellbeing advice. "I started The Small Biz Angel to help like-minded entrepreneurs, as I felt there wasn't much support around the mental health and wellbeing of small business owners," she explains. "It's always 'do this, do that, you need to have this' blah blah blah. But there was never any focus on taking care of yourself whilst you're running a business... well, until I came along." For Angel, Adobe Express is more than just a design tool: it's a solution to the overwhelming pressure many small business owners face. "Many entrepreneurs struggle with design, feeling like they need advanced skills or expensive tools to make their content stand out," she points out. "Adobe Express has been a game changer in helping me empower small business owners to create professional, on-brand content without feeling overwhelmed." This accessibility aligns perfectly with Angel's core mission. "For me, it's not just about creating content—it's about giving small business owners the confidence to show up consistently and make an impact," she explains. "With Adobe Express, I can teach entrepreneurs how to build a recognisable brand, streamline their content creation, and focus on what they do best to grow their businesses. It's like having a design team in your phone, and that's exactly the kind of support solopreneurs need." Angel adds that Adobe Express helps address a critical but often overlooked aspect of entrepreneurship: mental wellbeing. "Content creation can be one of the most overwhelming tasks, especially for those managing everything solo," she points out. "The pressure to be consistent, creative, and engaging on social media can quickly lead to burnout. That's why tools like Adobe Express are so valuable—they simplify the process and take the stress out of designing content." Aseil agrees and notes how such tools help him maintain creative energy. "When you're starting a digital business, you're already wearing a million hats, so finding tools that save time, streamline processes and keep you organised is so important. The less time you spend on manual, repetitive tasks, the more you can focus on creativity." "No more manually swapping brand elements" With both Aseil and Angel so enthusiastic about the platform, it made sense for them to join Adobe Express Ambassador Programme. Launched in February 2025, this programme brings together passionate creatives who are harnessing the power of Adobe Express to transform their businesses. Collectively, these Ambassadors are dedicated to showcasing to their fellow creatives how Adobe Express is breaking down traditional barriers to professional-grade design and making sophisticated content creation accessible to everyone. So, let's get specific for a moment: what are the standout features when it comes to Aseil and Angel's day-to-day use of Adobe Express? "Haha, honestly, that's like asking me to pick a favourite child. I love all of them!" Aseil laughs. "But if I had to shout out a few, I'd say the Brand Kits, quick resizing, and the scheduler. They make everything so seamless, especially when juggling multiple clients and platforms." For Angel too, the Brand Kits feature has been especially transformative. "Since I run multiple brands, each with its own unique style, being able to switch between different logos, colour palettes, and fonts effortlessly makes content creation so much faster and more seamless," she explains. "No more manually swapping brand elements or second-guessing if my colours are correct: it's all set up and ready to go." She's also a big fan of the Content Scheduler. "It means I can plan, design, and schedule posts for my different businesses all in one place, without jumping between multiple apps or platforms," she shares. "It helps me stay consistent, keeps my content organised, and saves me hours of manual posting. Instead of scrambling to create last-minute posts, I can batch my content and let the scheduler handle the rest." Both creators emphasise how these practical features translate into tangible business outcomes. "They make Adobe Express more than just a design tool—it's an efficiency powerhouse that allows me to stay on top of content creation without feeling overwhelmed," explains Angel. Tips for creative entrepreneurs New to content creation? Then here are some top tips from Angel on using Adobe Express. Start with a Brand Kit: "Set up your logo, brand colors, and fonts in Adobe Express so every piece of content stays visually cohesive," says Angel. "This builds recognition and makes your brand feel polished and professional." Use templates to save time: "Don't get stuck trying to design everything from scratch," she adds. "Adobe Express has templates that can be customised in minutes, helping you create content quickly while still making it unique to your brand." Keep it consistent, not perfect: "Your content doesn't have to be flawless!" Angel stresses. "It just needs to feel authentic and aligned with your brand. Simple, well-branded posts will make a bigger impact than overly complicated designs." Experiment and have fun: "Content creation should feel exciting, not overwhelming," Angel reminds us. "Play around with different styles, try new templates, and see what resonates with your audience. I always say trial and error is so important and needed." Conclusion Both Angel and Aseil see enormous potential for how accessible design tools will shape the creative industry's future. "By leveraging digital design tools like Adobe Express," says Angel, "solopreneurs can focus on growing their business instead of getting lost in design stress." Aseil adds, "It also empowers businesses to create high-quality, professional visuals without needing a huge team, which is great for smaller studios and freelancers." As Angel aptly puts it: "At the end of the day, content creation should feel empowering, not draining. Adobe Express helps solopreneurs show up consistently, create with confidence, and reduce the stress that often comes with managing a brand alone."

Some decorating trends will come and go (see millennial pink) while others have longevity, no matter what era we're in. One such aesthetic? Tasteful horse decor. Between Netflix's recent hit Ransom Canyon, the U.S. Polo championships back in April, and the many home tours we've published featuring horse motifs, everyone, including the design world, is enthralled with these creatures right now. While luxury fashion brands such as Ralph Lauren and Hermès may have introduced equestrian vibes into interiors (horses being an instantly recognizable part of both brands' identities), the look has evolved beyond just their ateliers. "Horses have always been a popular subject in the art and design world, going back to early cave drawings in the Lascaux Cave, France. It is so fun to see them back in the spotlight in interiors," designer Maria Burke says. "We have definitely seen a resurgence in layered, British interior style, so I think it is fitting that all sorts of equestrian subjects and patterns have also seen a rise in popularity." While several designers we spoke with mentioned the influence of British style in homes right now, others link our current fascination with the Wild West to a yearning for a different time. manufoto llcA horse sculpture nestled amongst candle holders is the perfect final decorative touch.Anson SmartMix and match art mediums, like textured pieces and a photo, in a room."Across the board, we're seeing a major shift back to traditional, cozy, old-world design. I think it's everyone's desire for comfort and reassurance during these rocky political and technological times. A return to our roots. It's the antithesis to AI," award-winning interior designer Lindsay Gerber Northart says. "The resurgence [of horse decor] seems to stem from a deep-seated yearning for connection with nature and a romanticized notion of freedom and open horizons," L.A.-based designer Jennifer Miller adds. "Horses embody both untamed beauty and a sense of serene strength in their powerful yet graceful presence. This inherent duality resonates with contemporary desires for authenticity and a touch of the organic within our living spaces." Indeed, in a world where we are scrolling endlessly on TikTok, checking our work emails while on vacation, or being spammed with fake phone calls daily, returning to a world that ran at a slower pace seems idyllic. Designers everywhere, from Los Angeles to Virginia, are seeing an uptick in client requests for incorporating horse decor into their homes. Burke notes that in one of her projects, they recently took the client's collection of riding crops and turned them into a gallery on their second-floor hallway. Meanwhile, Jeanne Barber, founder of Camden Grace Interiors, recalls a client in the New York City suburbs asking them to adorn her husband's office in oil paintings featuring hunts and horses. As you may be able to tell, if you love these majestic animals, there are plenty of ways to capture their essence in your home. "There's a romanticism to equestrian imagery that evokes both rustic countryside charm and old-world luxury, making it incredibly versatile across styles, from modern farmhouse to classic traditional and even minimalist spaces," designer Katie McCaffrey says. Tasteful horse decor is here to stay—forever—so check out the expert styling tips ahead on achieving the look seamlessly in your home. Related Story Make It Feel Modern Patrick BillerThe office is a great place to show off your love of the equestrian sport.Mixing new pieces with vintage finds is a tried-and-true furnishing method that gives your home its character. Even though this takes time, we're firm believers in slow decorating. When it comes to horse decor, Burke recommends employing the same method by merging "old master-style oil paintings with horse subjects above more modern pieces of furniture." If you already have such works of art, you're one step ahead of everyone else. However, if you're sourcing art from scratch, Burke says, "These works can easily be found on auction sites and even consignment stores if you are up for the challenge, and they make for a wonderful mix with newer pieces." We suggest checking out places like Chairish, 1stdibs, LiveAuctioneers, and Everything But the House.Related StoryLean Into Antique SculpturesJeanne BarberSculptures can be placed anywhere, including on a bar cart.Besides framed artwork, designers suggest adding horse sculptures to your space, whether that's a small statue of a stallion nestled on your bookshelf or a giant horse head that commands attention near your staircase. The best part about these pieces is that you can move them around the house anytime without having to deal with annoying photo hooks or adhesive strips. "In my own home, I have a large, cast-iron horse head that meanders through my house, depending on my mood," Barber says. "Lately, he's hanging out on our porch bar, greeting guests with a cocktail." Opt for Striking Photography© Rustic White Photography,LLCBuy a big print from your favorite photographer and hang it where everyone can admire it.Whether you dabble in photography or follow a National Geographic photographer who shoots the most amazing wildlife, if this is your art medium of choice, incorporating a stunning visual of a horse in your space is a no-brainer. "Professional equine photographers are increasingly producing some spectacular large-format images in both black and white and color. These can be striking statements alone or as a collection, and really set a sophisticated, luxurious vibe to any space," says designer and passionate equestrian Megan Winters. Don't Be ObviousAlanna HalePlaid, iron, brass, and leather can help you tap into the look more subtly.Yes, you can display tasteful horse decor without horses! If you're not into the animalcore look, you can instead hint at your love for them through horse-adjacent decor. "I think horse decor needs to be more of a nod and hint rather than literal...otherwise you're very easily getting into a tacky decor situation," Gerber Northart says. "Introduce patinated old leather pieces and brass accent pieces, which hint at the look and feel of horse tack. Wool and plaids hint at a fox hunt." Similarly, McCaffrey suggests using "checks, plaids, natural materials such as woven baskets to evoke equestrian style without being too literal." Related StoryLittle Touches Go a Long Way Michael CliffordShow restraint when leaning into the equestrian theme.All the designers we spoke with agree on one thing when it comes to making your horse decor feel tasteful: moderation is key. "I like to try to limit the use of a 'themed' element to one or two items per room," Burke says. "Instead of layering all sorts of prints with an actual horse on it [throughout the home], we will use one and then draw inspiration from other sorts of horse-related items, such as leather, thick wool blankets, and dark iron [for the other spaces].""The key is to ensure the execution feels intentional and contributes to the overall narrative of the space," Miller adds. "In our Sun Valley project, we incorporated a few horse drawings and a red horse painting I created myself, which felt especially fitting for the setting and served as a nod to the Western heritage and natural beauty of the area. The artwork reflects the landscape’s rustic spirit while adding a personal layer of storytelling." Shop Our Favorite Horse Decor PicksHermès Cheval Deco Ashtray$800 at HermesGucci Velvet Cushion With Horsebit$1,150 at GucciCharles MARECHAL (1865-1931), Horses in landscape oil on canvas$300 at liveauctioneers.comCarol Walker Leopard Appaloosa - Limited Edition of 100 Photograph$1,830 at saatchiart.comRalph Lauren Home Dalton Accent Table$18,790 at Ralph LaurenWilliams Sonoma Cashmere & Wool Equestrian Throw$499 at Williams SonomaKathy Kuo Monty French Country Black Aged Metal Round Side End Table$141 at kathykuohome.comRalph Lauren Home Brennan Clock$1,195 at Ralph LaurenArt Deco Style Silvered Brass Etruscan Horse Sculpture$4,250 at 1stDibsJoon Loloi Morison Leather Wrapped Table Lamp$199 at joonloloi.comFollow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

Complementary colors, positioned opposite each other on the color wheel, can produce some of the most vibrant and visually compelling images in photography. By understanding and strategically using them, photographers can create striking, balanced compositions that immediately captivate viewers. Here’s how to effectively harness this to infuse your photographs with drama and visual tension. Understanding Complementary Colors Complementary colors—like red and green, blue and orange, or yellow and purple—create powerful visual contrasts. When placed together, these colors enhance each other’s intensity, leading to dynamic and eye-catching images. Understanding the emotional impact of complementary colors can significantly improve your photographic storytelling: Red and Green: evoke passion and vitality Blue and Orange: provide depth and warmth Yellow and Purple: suggest creativity and vibrancy Creating Balance and Visual Tension with Complementary Colors The key to successfully using complementary colors lies in achieving visual harmony. Allow one color to dominate the scene while using its complementary counterpart as a strategic accent. Thoughtful placement of these colors can effectively guide the viewer’s attention and create powerful visual interest without overwhelming the frame. Utilizing Lighting to Enhance Color Contrasts Lighting significantly influences how colors interact and appear in photographs: Natural Lighting: During golden hour or blue hour, natural lighting emphasizes color contrasts, enhancing warmth or coolness. Artificial Lighting: Controlled artificial lighting, such as colored gels or studio lights, can intensify color relationships and dramatize your compositions. Composition Techniques Effective complementary color photography involves intentional composition: Simplify your frame by removing unnecessary distractions to help colors stand out clearly. Use neutral or uncluttered backgrounds to make colors truly pop. Thoughtfully integrate complementary colors within your background to further enhance your subject. Refining Your Image in Post-Processing Post-processing plays an important role in finalizing the visual drama of your complementary color images: Adjust contrast, saturation, and color balance to strengthen color relationships. Enhance the overall aesthetic appeal and cohesiveness of your composition through careful editing. Harnessing complementary colors effectively is a dynamic skill that enables photographers to convey vivid emotions, highlight intriguing narratives, and produce unforgettable imagery. By thoughtfully balancing composition, lighting, and post-processing, you can utilize colors contrast to create powerful and visually captivating photographs that resonate deeply with viewers. Explore the potential of complementary colors and elevate your photographic vision with bold, impactful compositions. Extended reading: Transforming ordinary scenes with vibrant colors The post Harnessing Complementary Colors for Visual Drama appeared first on 500px.

As Brian Chesky tells it, the reinvention of Airbnb started with the coup at OpenAI. On November 17, 2023, the board of OpenAI fired company CEO Sam Altman. His friend Chesky leapt into action—publicly defending his pal on X, getting on the phone with Microsoft’s CEO, and throwing himself into the thick of Altman’s battle to retake OpenAI. Five days later Altman prevailed, and Chesky—“I was so jacked up,” he says—turned his buzzing mind to his own company, Airbnb.Thanksgiving weekend was beginning. The Chesky extended family had already held their turkey get-together a week earlier, and the Airbnb CEO had no holiday plan. He was completely alone in his sprawling San Francisco apartment except for Sophie, his golden retriever.Still wired out of his mind from the cathartic corporate rescue, Chesky began to write. He wanted to bust the company he’d cofounded out of its pigeonhole of short-term home rentals. Amazon, he was fond of pointing out, was first an online bookstore before it became the everything store. Chesky had long believed that Airbnb should expand in a similar way. But things kept getting in the way—dealing with safety issues, fighting regulation, coping with the existential crisis of a global pandemic. The company was in danger of being tagged with the word that ambitious entrepreneurs dread like the plague: mature.Now Chesky was emboldened to lay out his vision. Home rentals are simply a service, so why stop there? Airbnb could be the platform for booking all sorts of services. While other apps cover specific sectors—food delivery, home maintenance, car rides—Chesky figured that Airbnb’s experience in attractively displaying homes, vetting hosts, and responding to crises could make it more trustworthy than competitors and therefore the go-to option for virtually anything.In a frantic typing spree at the dining room table, on the couch, the bed, and at times in his office, Chesky specced out how he would redesign the Airbnb app. Its users—now at 2 billion—would open up the app not only at vacation time but whenever they needed to find a portrait photographer, a personal trainer, or someone to cook their meals. Chesky reasoned that Airbnb would need to significantly strengthen its identity verification. He even thought he could get people to use the app as a credential, something as respected as a government-issued ID. If he could transform Airbnb into a storefront for real-world services, Chesky thought, he’d catapult his company from a nearly $10-billion-a-year business into one that boasted membership in tech’s pantheon.Over the next few days, Chesky spilled these thoughts into an Evernote document. “I was basically going from room to room just pouring out this stream-of-consciousness manifesto, like Jack Kerouac writing On the Road,” he says, referring to the frenetically produced single roll of teletype paper that catalyzed the beat movement. “I dusted off all my ideas from 2012 to 2016,” Chesky tells me. “I basically said, ‘We’re not just a vacation app—we’re going to be a platform, a community.’” By Friday he had around 10,000 words, “incomprehensible to anyone but me.” He began to refine it, and by the time the weekend was over, Chesky had distilled his document down to 1,500 words.PHOTOGRAPH: GABRIELA HASBUNAfter the holiday, Chesky gathered his leadership team into a conference room. He handed the team copies of his memo à la Jeff Bezos and waited as his direct reports took it in. “Usually when I share ideas, people aren’t bought in,” he says. “But this time, there wasn’t a lot of feedback. People were really excited. And two years later, that document will now be executed with an exacting detail to what I wrote.”This month, Airbnb will launch the first stage of its more than $200 million reinvention: a panoply of more than 10,000 vendors peddling a swath of services in 260 cities in 30 countries. It is also revitalizing an unsuccessful experiment the company began in 2016: offering bespoke local activities, or what it calls “experiences.” The next stage, launch date unspecified, involves making your profile on Airbnb so robust that it’s “almost like a passport,” as Chesky puts it. After that comes a deep immersion into AI: Inspired by his relationship with Altman, Chesky hopes to build the ultimate agent, a super-concierge who starts off handling customer service and eventually knows you well enough to plan your travel and maybe the rest of your life.“Brian’s been badly underrated as a tech CEO,” Altman says of his friend. “He's not usually mentioned in the same breath as Larry Page or Bill Gates, but I think he is on a path to build as big of a company.”That’s a stretch—Airbnb is nowhere near the size of those oligarchic powers. But Chesky was feeling the need for big changes; While impressive, Airbnb’s growth rate doesn’t suggest that the company will soon reach the trillion-dollar heights of Google and Microsoft. “I’m 43 and at a crossroads, where I can either be almost done or just getting started,” he tells me. “There's a scenario where I'm basically done. Airbnb is very profitable. We've kind of, mostly, nailed vacation rentals. But we can do more.”In early April, I visited Chesky at the company’s lavish San Francisco headquarters. The relaunch was five weeks away. The second floor—where signs warn employees not to bring visitors—had become a sprawling eyes-only command center. The walls were covered with dozens of large poster boards, each one featuring a city, that read as if a group of McKinsey consultants had tackled a fourth-grade geography assignment. Austin, Texas, was written up as “a funky come-as-you-are kind of place” with a handful of “first principles,” one of which was “Outlaw of Texas,” with pointers to food trucks and vintage markets. Another so-called principle was “Live and Alive,” referring to music venues and bat watching; a third was “Dam Lakes,” referring to various water sports. Other blindingly obvious notations included barbeque, tacos, and the two-step. The Paris poster painted a “revolutionary” city marked by slow living and enduring culture.Chesky strode up and greeted me enthusiastically. Dressed in a slim T-shirt that exposed his swole physique, he bounced on his heels with a jittery energy that reminded me of the first time I met him, in January 2009. He had just joined Y Combinator’s famous program for startups, and he and his classmates were at a party at the home of YC cofounder Paul Graham. (Graham told me then that he thought Airbnb’s business plan was crazy but was impressed by their determination.) I mentioned to Chesky that I was headed to Washington, DC, for Barack Obama’s inauguration, and he and his cofounders immediately tried to convince me to use their service to sleep on someone’s couch. I declined, but somehow over the next 15 years they managed to sell the idea to 2 billion people, including me, and now the company has a market cap worth more than Marriott.Chesky ushers me into a conference room to get a preview of the new Airbnb app. His engineers and designers have rebuilt the app from scratch, and he waves around a stick of lip balm as a talisman as he talks me through the redesign. Also in the room is his product marketing head, Jud Coplan, while his vice president of design, Teo Connor, Zooms in from London. While customers likely think of Airbnb as a travel company, its leaders view the operation as an achievement in design. Which makes sense; both Chesky and his cofounder Joe Gebbia were students at the Rhode Island School of Design.Airbnb's new user interface featuring experiences and services.COURTESY OF AIRBNBChesky explains that historically, people used Airbnb only once or twice a year, so its design had to be exceptionally simple. Now the company is retooling for more frequent access. Open the app, and you see a trio of icons that act as gateways to the expanded functions. Within minutes Chesky and his lieutenants are applauding the cheery, retro style of the icons—a house for traditional rentals, a hotel bell for services, and a Jules Verne-ish hot-air balloon representing activities. “We really thought deeply about the metaphor—what was the right visual to express an experience?” says Connor. Once they decided on the balloon, they drilled into how much fire should belch from the basket. The icons were drawn by a former Apple designer whose name Chesky would not divulge. “He’s a bit of a secret weapon,” he says.A less-secret weapon is Chesky’s collaboration with the iconic, also ex-Apple, industrial designer Jony Ive. Chesky’s north star, it should be said, is Apple. “Steve Jobs, to me, is like Michelangelo or da Vinci,” he says. Despite never meeting Jobs, “I feel like I know him deeply, professionally, in a way that few people ever did, in a way that you only possibly could by starting a tech company as a creative person and going on a rocket ship,” Chesky says. By hiring Ive’s LoveFrom company and working with Jobs’ key collaborator, Chesky gets a taste of the famous Jobs/Ive dynamic. Ive himself doesn’t make that comparison, but he does praise Chesky’s design chops. “There are certain tactical things where I hope that sometimes I'm of use to Brian, just as as a fellow designer,” Ive says. “But the majority of our work has been around ideas and the way we frame problems and understand opportunities.”Another key part of the app is the profile page. “You need trust,” Chesky says—meaning a verifiable identity. Airbnb has been vetting the new vendors, which it calls “service hosts.” For months, Chesky says, an army of background researchers has been scrutinizing the résumés, licenses, and recommendations of chefs, photographers, manicurists, masseuses, hair stylists, makeup artists, personal trainers, and aestheticians who provide spa treatments such as facials and microdermabrasions. They’re all being professionally photographed.Airbnb's new guest profile interface.COURTESY OF AIRBNBFor the next phase—turning Airbnb’s user profiles into a primary internet ID—Connor and her team have engaged in some far-out experimentation. She rattles off a list of technologies they’ve been exploring, including biometrics, holograms, and the reactive inks used to deter counterfeiting on official ID cards. But it’s far from easy to become a private identity utility (hello, Facebook), and even Chesky notes that getting governments to accept an Airbnb credential to verify identity is “a stretch goal.”Now that a whole slew of people will have new reasons to chat with each other and coordinate plans, Airbnb has also enhanced its messaging functions. Fellow travelers who share experiences can form communities, stay in touch, even share videos and photos. “I don’t know if I want to call it a social network, because of the stigma associated with it,” says Ari Balogh, Airbnb’s CTO. So they employ a fuzzier term. “We think of it as a connection platform,” he says. “You’re going to see us build a lot more stuff on top of it, although we’re not an advertising system, thank goodness.” (My own observation is that any for-profit company that can host advertising will, but whatever.)This brings us to the services—the heart and soul of this reinvention. Those now on offer seem designed to augment an Airbnb stay with all the stuff that drives up your bill at a luxury resort, like a DIY White Lotus. It will be interesting to see how the company handles the inevitable cases of food poisoning or bad haircuts (and skeezy customers), but Airbnb can draw on its 17 years of experience with dirty sheets, all-night discos on the ground floor, or a host who is literally terrorizing you. Eventually, Chesky says, Airbnb will offer “hundreds” of services, perhaps as far-ranging as plumbing, cleaning, car repair, guitar lessons, and tutoring, and then take its 15 percent fee.Crafted cuts by Bryan, Chicago, IllinoisCOURTESY OF AIRBNB; LYNDON FRENCHTrain with Steve Jordan, Trainer to the Stars, Los Angeles, CaliforniaCOURTESY OF AIRBNB; JACKIE BEALEThe other key feature of the company’s reinvention, of course, is Experiences. If the idea sounds familiar, that’s because Airbnb launched a service by that name almost a decade ago, with pretty much the same pitch: special activities for travelers, like architects leading tours of buildings or chefs showing people how to fold dumplings.It flopped, although Airbnb never formally pulled the plug. Chesky’s excuses include tactical errors: After a big initial splash, the company didn’t follow up with more marketing, and it didn’t establish a strong flow of new experiences. But the big reason, he says, was that it was too early. Now the company has five times as many customers and an ecosystem to support the effort. “It was like our Newton,” says Chesky, referring to Apple’s handheld device that predated the iPhone. (Another Apple reference, for those keeping score.)Chesky’s crew has arranged for more than 22,000 experiences in 650 cities, including a smattering of so-called “originals,” with people at the top of their field—star athletes, Michelin chefs, famous celebrities. In the pipeline is Conan O’Brien selling a perch behind a mic in his podcast studio. (Don’t expect it to air.) Taking a lesson from his earlier flop, Chesky has planned a steady cadence of these short-term promotional stunts, which, of course, is what the Conan experience ultimately is. “We’re going to have thousands of originals and maybe one day hundreds of thousands—a regular drumbeat of some of the biggest iconic celebrities,” Chesky says.He shows me how someone could take a trip to, say, Mexico City and book experiences instantly. “Fun fact—I’ve always dreamed of being a professional wrestler in Mexico. I want to be a luchador!” he tells me, then immediately regrets it. Regardless: In an Airbnb experience, he says, you can meet a real luchador, get in the ring with him, and learn some moves. Can you keep the mask?“Probably,” says Chesky. In any case, you’d share the photos with others in your group. (But don’t call it a social network.)Megan Thee Stallion in Los Angeles, CaliforniaCOURTESY OF AIRBNB; ADRIENNE RAQUELHorseback riding through four hidden temples of the Inkas, Cusco, PeruCOURTESY OF AIRBNB; PAZ OLIVARES-DROGUETTAirbnb’s planned transformation tracks with another reinvention: that of its leader.Chesky had originally taken the title of CEO over his two pretty-much equal cofounders because his personality was more forward facing—it wasn’t even formalized until 2010. But then, in 2011, the company had its first real crisis when a host publicly shared a horror story about how an Airbnb guest from deep, deep hell pillaged and trashed her home. What wasn’t stolen—the customer broke into a locked closet to grab a passport, cash, and heirloom jewelry—was ravaged and burned in the fireplace. “The death-like smell from the bathroom was frightening,” wrote the host. The story threatened to destroy the cheerful person-to-person vibe the company had cultivated. It didn’t help that Airbnb’s initial response was clueless and weak.Chesky stepped up to become the face of the company and instituted overdue safety protocols. Over the next few years, Chesky cemented his alpha status. In 2018 his cofounder Joe Gebbia stepped down from daily duties, though he still sits on the board. (Recently Gebbia has been in the news for his very public participation in DOGE’s remaking of the US government. When asked about it at a Q and A session with employees, Chesky said that Gebbia was free to have his own opinions, but they are not the company’s. Chesky did not attend Trump’s inauguration.) The third cofounder, Nathan Blecharczyk, is still with the company, though it’s notable that as I sat in meetings with over a dozen executives, the only time his name came up was when I mentioned it.Chesky was totally in charge during the pandemic, when Airbnb lost 80 percent of its business in eight weeks. He laid off a quarter of the staff. Now that bookings surpass pre-2020 levels, he thinks the company is stronger. And he learned a big lesson: “The pandemic was the turning point of the company,” he says. “My first principle became ‘Don’t apologize for how you want to run your company.’ Most of all you should not apologize for being in the details. The number one thing people want to do is keep you out of the details.”When Chesky shared some of these views at a Y Combinator event in 2024, Paul Graham was inspired to write an essay called “Founder Mode.” Graham used Chesky’s story to argue that only the person who created a company knows what is best, and the worst mistake is to listen to management types who haven’t built their own. The essay struck a nerve; people were stopping Chesky on the street and yelling “Founder mode!” Someone dropped off a baseball hat for him with those words; it now sits on a shelf in his conference room.Chesky, meanwhile, has been deep in the details, especially on this reinvention, itself kind of a classic founder move. “I did review work before the pandemic, but people kind of hated it. There were negative associations to a CEO reviewing everything; it’s considered micromanaging.” Also, his idol Steve Jobs was famous—infamous?—for his unsparing criticism. Chesky contends that once he went all-in on dishing out criticism, with no sheepishness, people seemed happier. But even if they weren’t, he’d do it anyway. Curious to see how this worked, I arranged to attend a Chesky review.Gathered in a conference room, the design and engineering teams presented near-final app tweaks affecting how hosts set up their services. Chesky seemed fairly pleased with what he was seeing—so much so that he apologized to me afterward that I didn’t get to see him go animal with his underlings. Nonetheless, even during this lovefest of a product review, Chesky babbled a constant stream of minor corrections. The cursor is oddly centered … Those visual cues are a little confusing … We need a subtle drop shadow here … The next line doesn’t seem centered vertically … That address input is pretty awkward … That button looks oddly short, is it supposed to be that short? … That shimmer, do we think we need it? Get rid of it … That top module doesn’t make sense … We need to rewrite all the copy on this page … I think we need a better empty state … That title’s not clear …The group shuffles out satisfied and a bit stunned that they got away so easy. But when I meet Chesky a day later to sum things up, he tells me that I’d just missed a spicier product review. Then he gets serious, explaining what the reinvention means to him. “I felt a little bit like the vacation rental guy,” he says. “Like we as a company are a little underestimated.” He brings up Apple again, saying that both companies embody the idea that a business relationship can generate emotion. “My ambition is kind of like the ambition of an artist and designer,” he says.At that point Chesky gets a little woo. “Magic, in hindsight, is not technology,” he says as he reflects on Apple’s wizardry. What he’s realized is that magic lies in forging connections with those who offer you a bed, a microdermabrasion, a sparring match in a lucha libre ring. “The magic that is timeless is, like, the stuff you remember at the end of your life.”He lets that sit for a minute. Then he puts a cap on that insight, sounding less like a CEO than a life coach. “I’ve never had a dream with a device in it,” he says. Leave it to the subconscious to highlight what matters. That said, his day dreams certainly involve a new kind of device. In his off hours he’s helping with a secret project headed by his friends Altman and Ive to create a device that Altman says is the next step beyond computers. (“This is not theoretical memo-swapping,” Altman tells me. “We’re hard at work on it, prototyping.”)But that’s somewhere off in the future. In the realm of products that actually exist in the world, Chesky will have to face competition from dozens of domain leaders including Yelp, Instacart, DoorDash, Ticketmaster, Hotels.com, Tinder, OpenTable, and Craigslist, to name but a few. You can probably add Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, since Chesky wants Airbnb to be a universal credential and what certainly looks like a social network. Even Steve Jobs might have blinked at taking on that crowd all at once.Images styled by Jillian Knox.Featuring: Liv Skinner, Liv Well and Francesca Lopez, Zinnia Wildflower BakehouseLet us know what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor at mail@wired.com or comment below.

Check out that display. Credit: ZTE China's ZTE's got a new flagship phone, the ZTE Nubia Z70S Ultra, and it's coming to the U.S. So what does that have to do with the iPhone 18? Hear me out. ZTE's phones don't always reach U.S. shores, which is a pity as the company has been producing excellent smartphones for more than a decade. The new ZTE Nubia Z70S Ultra is a good example of that: It's an absolute powerhouse of a phone, with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip inside, 12 or 16GB of memory, a triple, 50/64/50-megapixel camera sensor on the back, and a monster, 6,600mAh battery. The phone has a 50-megapixel wide camera, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera that doubles as a macro camera, and a 64-megapixel telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom. Credit: ZTE And, according to Android Police, the Nubia Z70S Ultra will be available in the U.S., as well as Europe and other global markets. Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! From the back, the phone looks like a compact camera, and ZTE sells a Retro kit that actually makes it look just like a camera, with additional physical controls for photographers. Less is more. Credit: ZTE But the Nubia Z70S Ultra's biggest highlight is its display. It's a 6.85-inch AMOLED display with a 2,688 x 1,216 pixel resolution, a 144Hz refresh rate, and no camera cutout of any kind. That's right, the display is just an uninterrupted rectangle, with no notches, islands, punch-holes, or anything else that gets in the way of viewing. Add to that the super-slim bezels surrounding the display, and you get a phone that finally offers a zero-distraction display. Related Stories The optional retro kit really turns the phone into a compact camera. Credit: ZTE The 16-megapixel selfie camera is there, of course, but it's hidden beneath the display — a technology that's been around for a while but somehow never reached the mainstream. Now, we've heard word that Apple is working on an under-display Face ID system for its iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max phones, paving the way for an iPhone with a fully uninterrupted display. So, if you want to see what that's like, checking out ZTE's new Nubia phone is probably your best bet. SEE ALSO: New leak gives fresh info on 'all-screen' iPhone The ZTE Nubia Z70S Ultra is actually a lot cheaper than the iPhone, too: It starts at $780 (€770 in Europe), and there's a $40/€40 discount if you pre-order it by May 28, which you can do here. Topics iPhone Stan Schroeder Senior Editor Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.