Vibe Shifts - Are You Part Of Them?
I never made the switch from photography to illustrations on my web properties, but I do very much remember when Unsplash seemed to suddenly be the ‘defacto choice’ for photography on many sites. More recently seeing Craft and others add the service right into their apps, I have felt for a while that I need to discover a new source of visual inspiration.
Was that due to that acquisition, or is it the uniquity of images from the Unsplash library? Are they related?
Case in point …. how many times have you seen this image?
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
According to Unsplash it has nearly 150 million views and has been downloaded 1,225,278 times - not recorded are the 2,397 sites I have visited that use this image!
So yes, I have noticed that I am struggling to find images on Unsplash that work for what I am writing about. Which is why I am eagerly waiting for my access to DALL-E 2 and … Midjourney … because I already have plans to change the illustrative approach to my blogs and social sharing.
I thought it was just me - until I read this today;
Sometime around 2015 there was a mysterious vibe shift in web design. It came so suddenly, and with so much decisive force, that it stood apart from the normal ebb and flow of aesthetic trends. It was like an invasive species taking over an ecosystem from a weaker competitor.
💬 Nathan Baschez
🔗 DALL·E 2 and The Origin of Vibe Shifts
I think when Unsplash (the free photography website) was founded in 2013 it killed the old vibe by democratizing access to great photography, and thereby ruining its function as a costly status signal. Companies then started using custom illustrations in their brand aesthetic because illustrations suddenly became much more rare and expensive relative to photos.
I’m interested in this little piece of design history because today I think history is on the brink of repeating itself. Now that we have DALL·E 2 (and other AI image generators), a huge portion of visual vibes will become democratized. What Unsplash did to photography, DALL·E 2 will do to illustrations, 3D renderings, and eventually all visual styles.
In other words: a vibe shift is indeed coming.
Me?
“I know nothing.”
💬 Private Schultz
But I have just been working through 🔗 Elon’s Giant Package … which is an alternative take on what is going on with today’s news.
“We really need to start treating people’s time as being more valuable than the organisation’s money.”
💬 Mark McArthur-Christie
📚 Just looking out ahead and realized that I still need to come up with my two books for the next meeting of 🖇️ 🔎The Readers Republic.
… the future is seen.
I used to use IFTTT a lot and then along came Zapier and now apparently there is Integrately.
How’s a boy to keep up?
They are clearly going after Zapier based on price
And yes - I recogize that I am probably 5 years out of date with my ‘news’.
“How about a rule that only stories that are not behind a paywall will be considered for a Pulitzer prize.”
💬 Dave Winer
… it’s a thought.
A Different Take On Ikigai
Funny.
Thinking Allowed
This is a People First post that was originally on the People First domain. It has been moved here as part of my domain consolidation program. It’s a steady and slow WIP as I check each entry, so do please bear with me.- More about People First
- Other People First Posts
(not just from the ‘other domain’ … all of them.)
I like this spin
on IKIGAI
‘Riot’ is only part of ‘patriot’ because of spelling.
Talking of which …
There’s a Musk tweet circulating today that his bot legions and unthinking people seem to be amplifying.
Personally I like one of the replies far more.
Have to say the only person I know who is truly a slayer of dragons is @Moondeer … and so let me give him a shout out to celebrate this day … St. George’s Day.
St. George being the only other slayer of dragons I know.
Adding ‘Level Up’ to the pantheon of meaningless phrases that need to roll over and die.
Finally!!
Really happy to report that the redesign here at People First is done. More to come, but first spending a little time cleaning up some a lot of the older posts.
“Warner Bros. Discovery - the new entertainment giant formed from the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery - is shuttering CNN+ at month’s end. That means the subscription streaming offshoot of CNN will have lasted one whole month.”
(my bold).
Just discovered 🔗 Future Wealth by Stanley M. Davis 📚 and added it to my ‘want to read’ bookshelf. The summaries I have read put it right in the middle of my 🔗 People First thinking
🔗 Still trying to get my head around ‘System’ … massive in scope - and yet only just getting started.
Wondering if anyone out there has spent time in there?
🎶🎵 As a 60s ‘pop song’, 🔗 Simon Dupree and the Big Sound’s Kites has always had a place in my heart.
As a progressive band, 🔗 Gentle Giant sits in my personal pantheon of musical influence.
Just discovered today that the latter were essentially the same band as the former. 🤯