This month, Adobe Firefly has officially exited beta with an innovative and ethical integration. Plus, I’ve unearthed some key insights from their 2023 Digital Trends report that are worth your attention.
In a disruptive move, noonoouri secured a major record deal, marking her as the first virtual influencer to do so. The Lofi Girl Youtube channel also collaborated with The LEGO Group, transforming their character into a playful world of bricks.
In the Art space, the iconic Las Vegas Sphere was turned into an AI-generated masterpiece by Refik Anadol while the Illusion Diffusion AI generator allows you to create your own mind-bending optical illusions.
And to wrap things up on a lighter note, someone had a bit of fun generating illustrations of tech billionaires in the style of GTA 5.
In essence, another month a month filled with captivating design discoveries. Without further ado, let’s dive into this carefully curated selection below.
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Adobe Firefly Exits Beta
As someone who’s been exploring the beta version of Adobe Firefly for a while, I’m truly impressed by Adobe‘s approach.
Their commitment to ethical practices stands out as they’ve trained their AI model on Adobe Stock and open-license images, ensuring that we’re liberated from copyright worries.
But what truly sets Adobe apart is the integration of their generative AI as features within their products, not as standalone entities. This approach is a game-changer in the industry, in my opinion.
I want to emphasize this aspect because, in today’s world, many seem to focus on the tool instead of the outcome, delivering rather meaningless flashy content. Remember, the tool doesn’t matter; it’s the content that truly shines.
Let’s champion creativity with purpose!
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First Virtual Influencer to Secure a Major Record Deal
In this constantly changing digital landscape, an 18-year-old virtual influencer named noonoouri has swiftly gained fame, boasting a remarkable 400k followers on Instagram. Her recent music debut with the track “Dominoes” on YouTube also garnered over 50,000 views. 🎵
This success was enough for Warner Music to recognize her appeal and offer a recording contract, the first digital “influencer” to secure a major record deal.
It seems that the integration of AI in music production and the rise of virtual influencers like noonoouri are gradually gaining acceptance. Younger generations, in particular, have embraced these virtual celebrities as a natural part of their digital landscape.
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Lego x Lofi Girl
As part of a collaboration with The LEGO Group, the Lofi Girl YouTube channel has given its character a makeover that transports her into a world of colorful toy bricks with low-fi music playing continually for 1h30.
Following in the footsteps of Nissan, The LEGO Group has brilliantly tapped into the low-fi craze on YouTube, and the video has already racked up an impressive 450K views in just one week.
The Lofi Girl, renowned for helping people zone in and stay productive, seems like the perfect companion for Lego builders.
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Mind-bending AI-Generated Optical Illusions
Optical illusions have always been fascinating, and it’s both awe-inspiring and slightly spine-tingling to witness how we can now simply generate them using AI.
A recent trend has emerged, featuring grids and spirals brought to life through the Illusion Diffusion generator. All it takes is a simple text prompt and a shape to guide the illusion. You can even inject your own touch of creativity by uploading a custom illusion template or mask.
I can’t help but wonder, what would artists like Maurits Cornelis Escher, Salvador Dalí, or Jos de Mey have to say about this modern marvel?
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Las Vegas Sphere turned into an AI artwork
If there’s one artist to follow in the AI-generative art space, I highly recommend Refik Anadol. 🔥
In his latest creation, he transformed the 54m² (or 580,000ft²) Las Vegas Sphere into a mesmerizing, swirling light show. But to ensure his AI-generated artworks fit perfectly on the Sphere, he had to deploy a totally new projection mapping technique and rebuild his AI models.
In “Machine Hallucinations: Nature”, Anadol also uses 400 million publicly available photographs of flora and fauna to generate a different form of “pigment.”
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Adobe’s 2023 Digital Trends Key Findings
As a designer and business owner, I’ve always believed in the power of creativity to drive innovation and success. The 2023 Adobe Digital Trends report reaffirms this conviction by underlining the importance of creativity in this ever-evolving digital landscape.
With customer expectations continuing to rise, businesses must respond with creative thinking. It’s not about quick fixes; it’s about long-term planning and strategy.
➡️ 42% of organizations believe their customer experience sometimes falls short of customer needs.
➡️ 73% of senior executives agreed that focusing on immediate needs at their organizations has come at the cost of longer-term planning and strategy.
➡️ 76% of agency executives report that their clients focus on vanity metrics or quarterly revenue goals to determine success rather than longer-term indicators such as brand saliency or customer lifetime value.
➡️ 89% of senior executives agree that the demand for content has increased significantly but only 28% of practitioners consider their organisations as good or very good at delivering content.
➡️ 62% of senior executives agree that their organizations have become more efficient, but at the cost of time or freedom to be creative and design unforgettable experiences.
➡️ 52% of practitioners consider the lack of creative time a key internal CX barrier. They’re also more likely than their leading competitors to be held back by a lack of customer insights and innovation.
To thrive, organizations must forge deep emotional bonds with customers through exceptional experiences. This demands creativity, empathy, adaptability, and a human touch in innovative problem-solving.
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A.I. Reimagines Tech Billionaires in GTA V Style
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