Hi Friends! I’m excited to share this week’s Designing Near Future. Here are the latest updates from the design industry, all in bite-sized, easy-to-digest pieces.

Breakdown of what’s in store today:

⭐ 5 Stories: The Newest Happenings in Design

💊 3 Resources: Secret Creative Resources That Pros Use

⚡ 1 Tip: Planned Disruption

Reading time: 4 minutes

⭐ Stories

1. TIME's Best Inventions of 2024

Just spotted this year's TIME's Best Inventions list, and it's loaded with pretty cool innovations across almost every category imaginable. From AI-driven health trackers and self-driving robots to brand focused consumer electronics, this list celebrates over 200 products redefining how we live, work, and play.

Side Note: I have been lucky to have a couple of products (that I designed at Astro Studios) be featured on previous versions of this. I also believe that being on TIME's list carries an important weight, as it speaks to a broad audience rather than niche design circles (which is what design awards are for). If you’re curious, it’s worth checking out this year’s lineup, even it is just for inspo! (The List)

2. Mr. Beasts pitch deck revealed

MrBeast’s pitch deck for brands like General Motors was revealed in new court filings last week. The deck showcases their incredible reach: 250M+ global fans, and over 2B monthly views across platforms. His pitch largely focuses on his young, hard-to-reach audience, philanthropy, and brand partnerships with companies like Walmart and Chipotle. Btw, Visual appeal isn’t the focus here, which is surprising. (Source) 

PS. The article maybe behind a paywall so if you want to see the deck itself reply to this email and I can send you a pdf copy of around 10 slides that are publicly available thanks to the BI article.

3. Feather Re-Launches it’s 3D Drawing app

Feather is a cutting-edge 3D drawing app designed for professionals and creatives. With its Airbreath rendering engine, it’s unique in the sense that it brings sketched ideas to life in 3D. In the video below you’ll see that it includes tools like "3D Liquify" for sculpting, dynamic lighting, post-processing effects, and an AR view. I am going to give this a try for sure. (Feather Launch Video). (Neat Trailer)

4. The World's Most Advanced Kitchen Scale

Neat little launch on indiegogo for this small kitchen scale with a digital readout using lights. The companion Measurrd app pairs with a high-tech kitchen scale to bring precision to home bartending. It’s got tons of classic cocktail recipes, it guides you through every step, has self-adjusting for overpours, etc. What I like - Just snap a photo of your ingredients, and Measurrd’s machine learning will recommend recipes to impress your guests. Pretty neat. And the creator behind (Adam) posted a little behind the scenes on reddit as well. (Source)

5. How Dopamine Design took over the internet

I recently read an article on Dopamine Design, a bold new packaging trend that’s all geared to trigger an instant emotional reaction. (Think it actually came about on Li, but was later posted on Fast Company). This theme taps directly into our brain’s reward system, echoing the quick dopamine hits we get from social media. This is all a response to short attention spans as this design style largely skips some elements of storytelling and dives straight into instant gratification. (Article)

Heyo! I put a lot of effort into sharing only the best for my subscribers. Join 1880+ creatives Designing the Near Future, Here is a link.

💊 Resources

3 links to boost your creativity.

• Make It Yourself is a (free) digital book that showcases 1000 useful DIY projects to demonstrate just what is possible when you make things yourself. Great inspiration for builders

• Design Spells is a library of digital design details that feel like magic

• I tried Nelson’s 9 Steps for Story Writing (and it's brilliant) made me want to stop everything & write a book right away

⚡ Tip

Planned Disruption

Lately, I’ve been venturing into comedy and learning how comedians set up jokes, build stories, hit emotions… all to make us feel something unexpected. I’m even thinking of taking an improv class (terrifying). Right now, I’m forcing myself to come up with a bit, following that setup-assumption-punchline formula. And honestly? It’s hard. But it’s also making me rethink storytelling in design - adding a bit more freedom, even emotion, to what I create.

Sometimes we need to shake things up on purpose. I’m realizing that dipping into new fields or doing something completely unfamiliar will bring in fresh, surprising insights, almost guaranteed. But, you must do it on purpose. This is what I call a Planned Disruption. Seems obvious but trust me, most don’t do it enough.

Tip: Plan your own “disruptions” - find a way to step outside your usual grind every couple of weeks. Maybe it’s switching your workspace or taking a workshop in something totally random. It doesn’t have to be huge. But just enough to rattle your routine a bit and wake up those dormant ideas.

Happy Designing!