Issue 55: Chaotic vision of the design future
Complexity theory in design; Guide to using new variables in Figma; Library of successful promts for Midjourney and so much more!
Hello, dear readers! 👋
In this issue, among other things:
History of Art Nouveau
Why it is necessary to question the work of AI tools
Complexity theory in design
Two opposing views on the future of digital technologies
Guide to using new variables in Figma
Recordings of speeches from the Figma Config 2023 design Conference
Library of successful promts for Midjourney
A video that every designer should watch
How the Eisenhower matrix works in digital product design
Enjoy reading!
📌 This is worth noting
The History of Art Nouveau. From French, it means "new art". And its main artistic features are smooth curved lines, floral ornaments, feminine forms, decorative and muted color palette.
Alphonse Mucha and the History of Art Nouveau
🗞 News and articles
Using the example of ChatGPT and the new Apple Vision Pro headset, Jason Fried noticed two diametrically opposed views on the future of digital technologies.
In the first case, the tool is minimalistic, native and does not require additional equipment, and in the second it is necessary to master new UX patterns, overload yourself with interfaces and buy an expensive device. Which one will prevail — time will tell.
AI analysis, brainless design. We need to build a habit of questioning
Alex Klein wrote about why it is necessary to question the work of AI tools and why it is sometimes important to do the work yourself.
The main thoughts from the article:
You should not trust AI user research, because it is an integral part of design, during which design solutions are born
AI offers average cliched ideas, while a good design should take into account the inconspicuous but important details of the project. Superficial ideas lead to superficial design
The hype around AI causes strong competitive pressure, so more and more tool creators and design teams are trying to introduce neural networks into the workflow
If AI takes on too many human functions, it can dehumanize society. For example, if an AI chooses gifts for your friends or writes an emotional speech for you to speak at a wedding, then this will eventually deprive you of the ability to empathize and understand other people
Design Needs Complexity Theory
Kasey Klimes wrote about the need to integrate complexity theory (theory of complex systems) into the discipline of design. It is based on the works of Christopher Alexander, the author of the book "A Pattern Language", and, in fact, complexity theory. The article contains many interesting examples and valuable arguments.
Here we give the main characteristics of complex systems:
Self-organization. The elements of the system self-organize into ordered models, as it happens, for example, with flocks of birds or shoals of fish
Chaotic behavior. Small changes in the initial conditions lead to large changes in the future (commonly known as the "butterfly effect")
"Fat-tail". Extreme events (such as mass extinctions and market crashes) occur more frequently than a normal (bell-shaped) distribution would predict. Nassim Taleb writes about this interestingly in his books
Adaptive interaction. Interacting agents (for example, market traders or players in the prisoner's dilemma) change their strategies as they gain experience
Occurrence. Spontaneous, global order arises as a result of many local interactions between agents who do not have a source of centralized control
Kasey writes that the systems for which designers design solutions are becoming more and more complex, the mutual influence of different parts of society is increasing, which means we need to develop an applied understanding of this theory and integrate it into the design process.
Design Needs Complexity Theory
⚡️ Briefly
Product design Eisenhower matrix. Dragan Babich briefly spoke about how the Eisenhower matrix works in the context of digital product design.
Product design Eisenhower matrix — Dragan Babić
New technologies
Midjourney has been updated to version 5.2. What's new:
More aesthetic and accurate image generation results
The Zoom Out function, which allows you to add an environment to an object in the frame as if the camera moved back. Zoom-out is available 1.5 times and 2 times. Also, when using the zoom, you can use "Custom Zoom", which allows you to add fonts and change the aspect ratio
The "Make Square" function, which draws a rectangular image to a square format
The /shorten command, which analyzes the query and suggests which words do not affect the result, and which ones should be added to improve the image
Setting the degree of variation when creating images
More precise control of the balance between stylization and realism
More examples of generating images with new features.
Midjourney 5.2: A Guide to the Latest Tools and Features
🧘 Inspiration
Branding
The modern identity of the Landmark Theaters cinema chain. As a system-forming form, the authors used a pseudo-three-dimensional isometric letter "L" from the logo, into which images and videos flexibly fit.
A series of retro lettering and 35 logo variations were also developed - one for each of the chain's cinemas.
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