Happy Friday!

Welcome to TWID - the only design newsletter on the internet written (in the middle of an $8T fundraise) by me.

It’s been 2 months since the last issue, but since people forgot to cancel their paid subscriptions to this drivel I must continue (jk I missed you all).

In all seriousness, I recently started a new job (which has been incredible btw, thanks for asking) & been spending most of my free time learning to identify hotdogs. All that to say - TWID will continue, but in a fun, unpredictable way.

Thanks for being here, let’s get into the sauce 🥫

WK07

@openai exists to dunk on @google

Honestly, are you surprised that I’m talking about this? Believe me, I really don’t want to, but we all gotta do what we gotta do to please our future AGI overlords.

Yesterday, Google announced the next generation of Gemini (1.5), and literally no one cared. This is because @sama and co. have a backlog of next level releases just chilling, waiting to steal the spotlight.

If you haven’t yet seen what this thing can do, check out the short clip below (more here). I don’t even know what to say… other than we’ve come a long way from Will Smith eating spaghetti.

As cool as this is (and definitely the future, blah blah), it’s also very hard to imagine that we’re still in the early days of this revolution.

Jori kinda nailed the sentiment a lot of us share, what are we doing? Idk, but I’ll probably eventually pivot to growing potatoes.

@duolingo is going all in on unhinged

The unhinged owl is back at it again.

If you spend any time online (or watched the Super Bowl), then you’ve definitely seen this viral ad from everyone’s favorite green bird. And if you haven’t, then you’re in for a little treat 🍑 (sorry).

The best part about this whole thing is this push notification the team sent out right after the ad.

Slow clap. No notes. 

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@apple does apple things

On the topic of the Super Bowl – the Apple Maps team updated the Allegiant Stadium for the big game (complete with the Apple Music logo, and all).

Such an incredibly delightful detail that only Apple can execute to this level of polish. Love to see it, especially since Apple Maps was once the “Will Smith eating spaghetti” of map apps.

@finkd got that dog in him

I don’t have to remind you of virality of Apple’s Vision Pro release, & although I haven’t tried one yet (F’s in the chat), Zuck definitely did.

In a surprising turn of events, he then proceeded to record a review (or a commercial, idk) where he confidently declares Meta’s Quest 3 as the superior product. If you haven’t seen this yet, watch it now.

Eat the rich and all, but you gotta admit that Zuck’s confidence has been through the roof lately (must be all that jiu jitsu).

@soleio spitting facts

I’ve been a big fan of Ridd’s deep dives, and his latest snippet from a conversation with Soleio is no exception.

I don’t really have much to add here, other than this should be a required listen for every designer out there.

Design Dopamine 💊

I usually struggle deciding on what to share in this section every week, but this time the decision was simple. I got an absolute banger for ya’ll.

iOS 18 Concept

If you’re not familiar with Shea’s work, drop what you’re doing and go educate yourself. You can start with this incredible iOS 18 concept.

This is just a short clip designed to clickbait you into watching the whole thing over on Shea’s timeline. Run, don’t walk, as they say.

That’s a wrap for WK07

Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed this issue (or hated it), please let me know in the comments (or tweet at me).

Also, be sure to check out Play - the sponsor of this week’s issue for a big forehead kiss.

Love you all, have a great weekend

- @aleksliving