Superbloom

Marginalized creators, including sex workers, the LGBTQA+ community and activists, face constant threats of de-platforming. Our workshops with Dr Carolina Are explored solutions for safer online spaces ??https://lnkd.in/etQECYWY

?? We are excited to announce the new GitHub Secure Open Source Fund. This new fund is a dedicated initiative aimed at supporting and enhancing the security of open source software backed with +$1.25MM in funding from partners. ?? With this program we aim to help maintainers focus on security to not only find and fix, but help prevent vulnerabilities using tools powered by AI to improve open source security. Open source security is crucial and we are committed to creating a safer ecosystem for everyone. ??We are proud to have the support of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, American Express, Chainguard, HeroDevs, Kraken, Mayfield Fund, Microsoft,? 1Password, Shopify, Stripe, Superbloom , Vercel, Zerodha, and others. Beyond today’s launch, we will continue to accept partners. #GitHub #GitHubSecure #SupplyChainSecurity #CyberSecurity #opensource

“Brand positioning.” What’s that? Aren’t you and your team trying to make the world a better place - isn’t that your “brand position”? Well, not quite. What we mean is, what’s the vibe that people feel around you? Are you the approachable, chilled one? Are you the serious, nerdy one? This is our 5-week LinkedIn series guiding you (and your small but mighty team) through the nuts and bolts of org communications. Today’s topic: Brand Positioning. One way to learn your brand position vibe is by workshopping it. We’ve made a Miro template with 7 quick and easy exercises to help you explore and define who you are. Our workshop tip? Invite folks from your community! That outside perspective will help you see things you can’t see yourself. Here’s our public Miro template with 7 brand positioning exercises. Try it out – and share if it’s useful! https://lnkd.in/eXVcixQq While you’re at it, check out the whole public toolkit at https://lnkd.in/dFK4NEmy

How we're supporting OSS projects in Taiwan ????. At Superbloom, we believe design is crucial in creating ethical technology. This year, we returned to COSCUP to host a workshop focused on empowering designers to contribute to open source projects addressing critical issues like censorship circumvention and digital privacy. We structured our workshop around four key pillars: understanding roles in OSS, conducting deep user research, translating technical challenges into design solutions, and providing templates for impactful contributions. The result? Tangible design improvements for projects like Cofacts and Ceno that directly benefit Taiwanese citizens. If you’d like to run a similar workshop at an OSS event and would like to use our resources, you can find them in our open and free repository here: https://lnkd.in/euha_pRK

This summer, Procreate took a definitive stance against generative AI. In a world where so many tech tools and platforms are adopting it, Procreate’s position is unique. We help design tech to protect people’s dignity, safety and privacy - and here’s what we make of Procreate’s decision. First of all, what exactly did they say? Procreate CEO James Cuda said “I really ****ing hate generative AI” in a video, and confirmed “We’re not going to be introducing any generative AI into our products.” https://lnkd.in/dt75Wi3h There has been widespread praise from the creative community, but here’s what our designers think: they have made decisions that creators love, over and over. Accessible pricing, beautiful UI, and new version releases are given to existing users for free. No AI integration is the icing on the cake. They know their user base; it’s much more for creative digital artists and illustrators who are some of AI’s biggest victims at the moment when it comes to copying work. They’d lose lots of users if they were pro-AI - meaning this could be more of a social business choice rather than an ethical/privacy stance. In an environment where AI integration feels like it’s being added by everyone, saying that you’re not using it could differentiate your product on the market - and win the support of your creative customers. What do you make of Procreate’s decision? ??

You may be surprised to hear who it is that most nonprofits and activists DON’T ask about communications work. When you design, or redesign part of your brand, who do you ask for advice? Professional consultants? Colleagues? Partners? Are you asking your communities? The people you hope to impact, the people who support you, and your funders all have valuable insights: they can tell you what you represent to them. More importantly, taking a participatory approach likely lines up with your mission and values. If your team is working against closed, top-down systems that don’t center human needs, what better place to start than your own communications work? This is how we try to work – we’re a small nonprofit, and we help teams around the world take a community-oriented approach to branding and communications. We’ve collected some tips and curated some resources for you here: https://lnkd.in/eVS8gQbC. We’re always looking to build our library of participatory case studies. If you use this approach, please drop us a line. While you’re at it, check out the whole public toolkit at https://lnkd.in/dFK4NEmy

How do you build trust in the tech and design space? A few years ago, we collaborated with Adobe Creative Cloud to explain?? https://lnkd.in/e9e95MjZ

Is doing a rebrand six weeks or six months of work? We scoped nine kinds of communications projects, and we’ll tell you how long they take. This is our 5-week LinkedIn series guiding you (and your small but mighty team) through the nuts and bolts of org communications. Today’s topic: Scoping. You can’t begin designing, or redesigning, without understanding the size and scope of the project you’re taking on. We’re a small nonprofit, and we’ve worked with a lot of small tech activist organizations on all kinds of communications – from rebranding to social media. We’ve seen a few patterns. So we laid out nine types of comms projects for you here, from small to large. What are the deliverables? Why should you choose this project? How long is it going to take? Our Communications Project Scoping Guide is available here: https://lnkd.in/dkAVcpnh While you’re at it, check out the whole public toolkit, and share it with someone who may need it: https://lnkd.in/dFK4NEmy

If you’re a journalist, have you heard about the Online Violence Response Hub? It’s a digital resource designed to assist and inform women journalists facing digital threats. We supported International Women's Media Foundation in researching and designing the hub - here’s some more information ??. From the outset of their careers, women journalists are taught that they need to establish and foster an increasingly recognizable online brand under their real name - yet when their reporting is inevitably met with online bullying and harassment, they are told the problem is an individual one for them to handle on their own. We want to change who technology serves by shifting the conversation around online bullying and identifying how platform design choices today often enable harassment instead of prevent it. Alongside other needs- and issue-based findings, we were able to understand the most common challenges and how journalists describe them. These essential takeaways informed the organization of the website’s content and increased accessibility by ensuring users would be able to quickly and accurately find answers to and resources for their most pressing questions and needs in times of crisis. Please share so that women journalists in your network can find out about the International Women's Media Foundation tool: https://lnkd.in/g-3aTaH Though the responsibility for a safer tomorrow starts with platforms designing to address these harms, more is still needed. We all must do our part and stand together.

This summer, Procreate took a definitive stance against generative AI. Why? In a world where so many tech tools and platforms are adopting it, Procreate’s position is unique. We help design tech to protect people’s dignity, safety and privacy - and here’s what we make of Procreate’s decision. First of all, what exactly did it say? In a video, Procreate CEO James Cuda said “I really ****ing hate generative AI”, and confirmed “We’re not going to be introducing any generative AI into our products.” There has been widespread praise from the creative community, but here’s what our designers think: they have made decisions that creators love, over and over. Accessible pricing, beautiful UI, and new version releases are given to existing users for free. No AI integration is the icing on the cake. They know their user base; it’s much more for creative digital artists and illustrators who are some of AI’s biggest victims at the moment when it comes to copying work. They’d lose lots of users if they were pro-AI - meaning this could be more of a social business choice rather than an ethical/privacy stance. In an environment where AI integration feels like it’s being added by everyone, saying that you’re not using it could differentiate your product on the market - and win the support of your creative customers. What do you make of Procreate’s decision?