Welcome to Friday Fives, Vol. 310
The Working Assembly
Design-led creative agency based in New York City and working globally.
Every Friday, we highlight five things we have on our radar that we think should be on yours, too.
This week, we’re doodling over AI Art, driving women’s design, sending Kamala Harris Brat memes, serving the community with branding, and saying “I do” to personalized weddings.?
In other sweet news, Cherries and TWA rang the bell at The New York Stock Exchange to celebrate National Ice Cream Day. Revitalizing a neighborhood ice cream shop has been delightful, but this was really the cherry on top.
1. Friday Fives Created by Humans, not A.I.
Artificial Intelligence art has become ubiquitous, raising concerns about credibility, authenticity, and the livelihood of professional creatives. Enter the viral Human Intelligence logo, a quiet counter-movement on Instagram. It began when illustrator Beth Spencer shared an Instagram post with her doodled badge design "Created with Human Intelligence," a logo she used on her own website. Her caption challenged other creatives to create their own badges, without any help from AI of course. What resulted was over 1,200 posts worldwide using her chosen hashtag #hibadge2024 and the creation of original logo designs made 100%? by humans.?This movement shows that AI can boost creativity, not hinder it. In lieu of our beautifully designed badge, we made a headline about it.
2. Putting the Breaks on Macho Design
Women buy 60 percent of all new cars sold in the United States, so why does car design look so macho lately? Although US drivers are currently split 50/50 between men and women, the auto industry still favors the male perspective. One reason could be that most C-suite positions at major original equipment manufacturers are held by men. Combine that with the focus on automobile performance, and you end up with a lot of cars that resemble boyhood Hot Wheels (hey, where’s our real-life Barbie Pink Convertible?). Elon Musk’s Cybertruck, which Musk described as large enough to mount a missile launcher, is just one of many recent cars embracing masculine aesthetics. But as we saw with Taylor Swift's Eras tour and Beyoncé’s Beyhive, women have spending power. It would be wise for the auto industry to shift gears and let women take the wheel on car design.
3. I'm Everywhere I'm So Kamala
The newest edition to the Presidential race took her full-body laugh straight into the depths of Brat summer. As Charli XCX said herself “kamala IS brat.” Vice President Harris, who joined the race after President Joe Biden dropped out on Sunday, is leading her campaign straight into her own meme-ability and current trends in an effort to engage with young voters and ensure they register and vote later this year. Harris is no stranger to the meme scene, starting with her iconic phone call with Biden?after their victory in 2020 and leading to her remark about coconut trees and human existence in 2023. But this campaign strategy of not only facing the meme storm, but joining it, might be just what Gen Z needs to rev them up to vote. So this November, make sure when you fall out of your coconut tree, you land in a voting booth.
4. Rebranding the Block
Community branding projects can be challenging. If the visual tone is off, residents might feel alienated and misrepresented. However, when done right, a strong visual identity can build community spirit and excitement, attracting more people and funding. An excellent example is Wunder Werkz's visual identity for Sun Valley, Colorado, which aimed to support regeneration plans and address housing challenges for its Latin American population. The campaign used a non-linguistic design to resonate with its diverse migrant population and saw success. This achievement resulted from focusing on more than just a logo and tagline, but getting to know the roots of the community and its heritage. In the right circumstances, neighborhood branding projects can serve a community and make a difference - and what’s more neighborly than good branding?
5. You May Now Kiss the Brand
A white dress. A black tux. A big cake. And a deck of Uno cards with the bride and groom's faces on it. Welcome to the future of matrimony: branded weddings. The death of traditional weddings has come from an overwhelming desire for couples to customize their event to bring their guests further into their love story. A recent survey showed that 63 percent of couples (out of nearly 10,000) named personalization as the most important part of planning their wedding. And branded weddings sometimes do go viral on social media, launching the couple straight into their fifteen minutes of fame. And when you mix a customized wedding with new bridal lines from major fashion brands (think Sandy Laing or Jacquemus), you’re bound to get a wedding made for pinterest boards. And honestly? We’re happy as long as the vows are beautiful, good music plays, and we go home with a koozie bearing the newlyweds dog's face.