designThursday, July 16, 2026
Today's design coverage splits cleanly: some pieces argue designers are fighting the wrong battle in an AI-shaped world, while others retreat into pure craft and whimsy. A sharp critique of design's tool obsession lands alongside a trompe-l'œil skeleton world and a riso calendar review, with luxury brand collabs and a cliffside home filling out the rest.
Two pieces this morning question what designers should actually be worrying about.
Argues that designers are still obsessed with tools and workflows while AI has made building trivial. The real job now is deciding what to build and why, strategy, not process.
A retrospective on Stone Librande's 2010 GDC talk about one-page game designs. The core lesson, distilling complex ideas into a single diagram, is more relevant than ever as AI floods teams with output.
Elsewhere, designers are happily deep in the details of playful, tactile work.
Jason Limon's trompe-l'œil paintings hide skeletons beneath colorful vintage illustrations. It's a memento mori wrapped in playfulness, and the craftsmanship is meticulous.
A hands-on test of a risograph calendar template that convincingly mimics misaligned layers and dot patterns. Proof that the riso aesthetic is now reproducible without the press.
Repetto and Birkenstock's ballet-inspired collab reworks the Arizona and Boston in pointe-shoe colors. Two distinct design languages, one surprisingly elegant result.
The Founder of Aman Just Opened Japan’s Most Stylish New Farm Retreatwww.vogue.com
5 clever, foolproof ways garden experts keep their plants watered during a two-week-holiday – you'll avoid…www.idealhome.co.uk
20+ Awesome Desert Fonts for Wild Aesthetic Designsdesignshack.net
20+ Trustworthy Brand Strategy Presentation PowerPoint Templatesdesignshack.net
Repetto and Birkenstock’s Ballet-Inspired Collection Is Herewww.harpersbazaar.com
5 things to declutter before going on holiday – how to beat the holiday blues and come home to a tidy,…www.idealhome.co.ukMy homepage has a pulsesnehankekre.com
A developer describes creating a live heart rate display on their personal homepage, pulling real-time data from their Garmin dive watch. The piece explores the technical implementation details, design decisions behind the pulsing heart animation, data extraction methods from the
iPhone 18 Pro leaks point to a bigger, better and heavier smartphone from Applewww.creativebloq.com
The article discusses rumored features of the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro, including a new unibody design replacing the two-tone look of the iPhone 17 Pro, potential camera breakthroughs, and a heavier build. It covers Apple's design evolution, the mixed reception of the iPhone 17 lin
The bank you can build onwww.griffin.com
Welcome to the platform for your next financial product or service. The bank you can build on.
Studio Font perches cliffside home in Mexico on inhabitable concrete columnswww.dezeen.com
Studio Font has completed Casa Diez Pies, a 250-square-metre home in Mazunte, Mexico, that steps down a lush coastal cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The home is raised on 10 large concrete columns to minimize its impact on the steep site's vegetation. These inhabitable colum
Toad Bakery designed to "avoid the bottleneck of choice paralysis" between pastrieswww.dezeen.com
Toad Bakery, founded by Rebecca Spaven and Oliver Costello, opened its second branch in Deptford, southeast London. Carpenter Nick Tudor designed an elongated, curved counter specifically to accommodate the bakery's regular winding queues, addressing the "bottleneck of choice par
Renatefontsinuse.com
Renate is a Munich-based bistro specializing in small plates, wine, and drinks. The identity by Herburg Weiland uses Gaya combined with Ready Active.
Natchiq | Onkeehq | Isuwiq at RISD Museumfontsinuse.com
An exhibition identity design for "Natchiq | Onkeehq | Isuwiq: Indigenous Artists Honor the Seal" at the RISD Museum, curated by Nadia Jackinsky-Sethi, Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich, and Elizabeth James-Perry. The exhibition highlights seals as a cultural connector for Native co
Celebrating 25 years of visual search innovationblog.google
Google Images celebrates its 25th anniversary, marking a quarter-century of visual search innovation. The article traces major milestones from its launch in 2001 (sparked by the Jennifer Lopez green dress moment) through key developments like the introduction of reverse image sea
NameThatUI — What Is This UI Element Called?namethatui.com
A reference-style resource that catalogs common UI design elements (text scramble effects, spring animations, easing functions, masonry layouts, bento grids) alongside their proper names, API symbols/code snippets, and ready-to-use prompts for AI coding agents. It serves as a qui
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