One year since the first dispatch of The Colour Bar, almost to the day (that was on Linkedin, I since dual publish there and here). Do have a little listen to what I had to say about it, in this video— no candles and streamers, but something to put a marker in! My weekly forays in connecting the dots between creativity, culture, and tech have quietly found their own rhythm.
🎧 Prefer to listen? Hit play to listen to me read this week’s dispatch.
Hours after I sent out last week’s piece— which included a bit about Meta’s Vibes & Runway’s FOOM!, OpenAI announced Sora2 and the much-talked about social media-esque feed. I am less than whelmed by the existence of such apps, for a multitude of reasons- enough to do a video and groan a little about it this week.
But apart from the mind-melting barrage of genAI content, we can always find real craft and texture:
Drawn To Craft: Hermès’ social media pages- creative collaboration & delight.
▶️ Curated/Cuts: Willem Dafoe tries to describe Laphroaig; Jonty Rhodes wants his money back
Social Slop: an obsession around generative AI to produce bursts of debatable creativity- is this the best we’ve got?
➕ChatGPT will connect to your apps ; question marks over Lionsgate’s AI ambitions ; Netflix says cheers ; Instagram announces awards ; layoffs at Fiverr ; on performative yearning.
A year in, and still combing creativity, culture, brands, and tech— every week.
Drawn To Craft
Even if you are not a fashionista or fashion buff, stumbling onto Hermès’ Instagram page might leave you refreshingly surprised. There are the expected blasts of fashion photos and runway clips, but equally, you will find artist contributions.
Hermès is one of the oldest— if not the oldest— luxury fashion brands, so it has a distinctly heritage feel to it. Aloof, even. But their choice to commission an eclectic group of artists shows a commitment to creativity and a confidence to stride many paths.
It also means we have some very diverse, vibrant, captivating pieces to feast our eyes upon. These span sketch, illustration, stop motion, painting, 3D, stills, animation, music; giving us oddities, elegance, amusement and joy.
Introducing the 2025 theme of the year in January, artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas said, “Drawing is everything at Hermès, and everything starts with drawing.”
Of course, the crossroads between art, craftsmanship, and the championing of creativity is hardly out of place. That happy place has been a natural home for Hermès.
Known for slow, timeless luxury, their social media presence leans into an effervescent, always in-motion feel. Its collaborative approach to social media wants to somehow offset an aura of exclusivity with easy digital access.
What do they tell us? This is a brand driven by aesthetics and craft. It is a creative curator, tastemaker, patron. What does this do? Attracts a wide audience, drawn in by delight and art. In doing so, the brand gently tells us it appreciates craft, creativity and colour.
But maybe most of all in 2025, Hermès’ invitation into a world of collaboration and creativity resonates because it embraces human effort and originality. It is a clear and welcome choice, in a time when the chance, derivative creativity of generative machines could easily have replaced it.
And, talking of machine generated ‘creativity’:
Slop Social
Hours after I sent out last week’s dispatch— which included a piece about Vibes from Meta (and Runway’s FOOM!)— OpenAI announced Sora 2. Along with the new generative model, it launched an app called, simply, Sora. Despite being invite-only, the app reached #1 on the US app store charts.
Its key feature? An AI-based social media-esque feed, populated entirely with content created with and by the Sora tool. It includes a feature called Cameo, which asks to scan in your face/voice etc. This then basically enables you to create videos featuring…. why, featuring you, of course. Fancy yourself an astronaut, or gymnast? Or chatting with an ancient samurai? Or swimming with sharks, or talking to crocodiles or exploding a car? You get the idea. You can also use others’ likenesses to create videos of them— and they of you.
That’s right- no dangers of misuse whatsoever.
I am less than whelmed by the existence of such apps, for a multitude of reasons. Enough that I did a quick reaction video to it here:
Look, I understand many people won’t be grappling with ethical & legal questions. We all likely should, but the reality is the vast majority couldn’t be bothered. It’s mindless, it’s fun (for now), and that will ensure some momentum.
The question is whether this is a flash in the pan or will it be part of social media changing dramatically?
Casey Neistat has a nice little video on how this could evolve the creator scene.
🎬 Curated/Cuts.
1. Laphroaig with Willem Dafoe
Growing a beard in your throat? A smoky cornucopia of delight? Sucking on a burnt match? A volcano in a bottle? Honey?
Willem Dafoe is a new ‘friend of Laphroaig’, the smoky whisky from the windswept Islay. In this new collaboration, the odd and oddly charming actor tries to pin down what the peaty whisky really tastes like. With a little help from other friends.
Said Defoe, “They had a central idea that was amusing, that plays with the inability to define the taste of the whisky. A sort of poetic parody of pretentious expert tasters’ language.”
Here is their short film.
Might sound like PR fluff, but have to agree with this, “Just like our single malt, Willem offers an unmatched intensity that’s seen him bring countless complex and unforgettable performances to life.”
Director: Tim Pope
2. Jonty Rhodes wants his cash.
Jonty Rhodes, the widely-liked South African cricketer and now coach, has been plugged into India for some time now. (Check out his occassional social posts, and love how he rides around on his bike). The new Indian payment app super.money roped him in for a fun spot. Gimmicky but in a good way
Creatives BrainDad · Bang Bang Media Corp · Director: Ryan Mendonca ·
☕️ My other substack newsletter sees eclectic and curious storytelling. Its called Coffee & Conversations. Last week, for example, I did a video piece about the haunting photo from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a promising album announced by Gorillaz, and a little Tarantino news. Have a look?
ChatGPT has announced connecting with apps within the service. This includes Spotify, Booking.com, Coursera, Canva. What this means? Chat ‘directly with the apps’ and get their responses/steps within ChatGPT. You need to connect the apps to ChatGPT (and hence share data).
Think asking Canva to create slides or Spotify to suggest playlist. It is a value-add in ChatGPT, but also a different way we might end up using/leveraging those apps. Could have some very interesting and powerful usage examples coming up. Ah, also- CHatGPT says they might suggest the apps as well in a response (even if you have not asked for it). Brand/advertising integrations, ahoy!Lionsgate announced a partnership with generative AI firm Runway last year, you might recall. The ambition was (is?) to make scenes and even films using the technology, and Lionsgate own catalog. Then, in case we had forgotten, their CEO famously said about adapting an action franchise, “Now we can say, ‘Do it in anime, make it PG-13.’ Three hours later, I’ll have the movie.” Now, The Wrap says the deal hasn’t quite gone to plan. “The Lionsgate catalog is too small to create a model,” a source said. “In fact, the Disney catalog is too small to create a model.”
➕ More quick hits:
“Online, we yearn. Offline, we don’t linger long enough to actually ache.” Fascinating piece on performative yearning in Gen Z, manifested via social media which is essentially the expression of everything. “It’s like being in on the vibe matters more than actually living it.”
AbInBev has announced a partnership with Netflix. This includes “co-promoted shows and live events to limited-edition packaging and more”, and has been facilitated by SuperConnector.
Instagram has announced awards. ‘Rings’ celebrates those “who aren’t afraid to take creative chances and do it their way.” Judges include the likes of Spike Lee, MKBHD, Grace Wales Bonner, Marc Jacobs and others.
Fiverr will lay off 250 of its employees. This from the company who said ‘Nobody Cares about using AI’ in their musical spot last year. Not a surprise, given their CEO’s missive earlier this year. “AI is coming for your jobs,” Kaufman wrote to his employees. “Heck, it’s coming for my job too. This is a wake-up call.”
“Posting about heartbreak makes me feel like I’m starring in a film.
In real life, I’d never let anyone see me cry, but online—it feels beautiful.”
