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In an always-on world, assaulted by the pressure to be perpetually productive and an endless elevation of efficiency, whither intent? Intentionality has been a virtue for long, but in the 2020s, the context can be quite particular.
was taken-by a series of trivial stumbles and thoughts- back to a wonderful little spot from 2013 which eloquently and gently urges us to take a moment. It is a good brand lesson, but a very relevant individual one too, I humbly submit.
This dispatch also sees fancy fingers, musically morose Nordic winters, a blurb on bankruptcies and an apparent affliction of alliteration.
Come- conjoin in this collision of creativity, craft & characters.
Cheers,
Shakey
For intention: eloquence for doing with meaning
Curated/Cuts: get your fingers in, but definitely don’t visit Oslo
Gettying it done: a tale of two bankruptcies
➕ · Netflix & FIFA · Clipping in India · Video-first Facebook ·
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1. Intentionality
As consumers, we (I) bemoan much these days- about how products are made and innovations engineered to solve problems no one has. Creating stuff no one asked for. Because, growth. Because, consumption. Or just ‘because’.
And then there’s this age we live in, one we’re slowly getting subsumed by. The attention economy. Generative AI. The deification of efficiency. Infinite content.
In all this, I think a core theme across the next decade for all of us– especially for those entering the workforce, growing their muscle for life– will be to value the process, the doing, the intention.
We could all do with more intention.
Say what you will about Apple- have some products lost their sheen, has a core spirit diluted, has the brand itself lost its way…
But the ethos delivered in this video from their 2013 WWDC, remains a wonderful, clear and clear-headed expression of what drives their design.
And it is worth spending a moment or three with, irrespective of your take on Apple.
If everyone
is busy making everything
how can anyone perfect anything?
we start to confuse convenience
with joy
abundance with choice.Designing something requires
focus
the first thing we ask is
what do we want people to feel?Delight
Surprise
Love
Connectionthen we begin to craft around our intention
it takes time.There are a thousand no’s
for every yes.
we simplify
we perfect
we start over
until every thing we touch
enhances each life
it touches.
only then do we sign our work:‘Designed by Apple in California.’
This premiered as the WWDC 2013 Intro- here is some story around it from the CD at the time, Simon Cassels.
Writing Rob Goldberg · Zane Miller · Eric Grunbaum ·
Creative Danny Duran · Buck ·
{ Apple also had a consumer spot around the same theme, which you can see here. It’s a fine spot, though I find it interesting to think that the piece crafted for the Developer conference resonates across the years at least as much, probably much more. }
2. Curated/Cuts
· (don’t) Visit Oslo, again ·
Remember Halfdan? Our old deadpan acquaintance from 2024, with a cynical worldview and morose take on his city, somehow still lives in Oslo.
But Hafldan likes to share his moansome thoughts, so he is back to tell us he hates winters in the city, showing us how dreary it is… but somehow, against his wishes and his fundamental character, still manages to conjure a musical about it all.
Here you can find Halfdan’s first sharing of why he wouldn’t visit Oslo except he had to live in it.
Production: NewsLab · Director: August Jorfald ·
· Hands On ·
“A very big cinematic film just at a very small scale”
Oura gets its hands dirty (and wet, and pretty, and much more), as they craft a spot giving life to fingers.
For ‘Wear Your Best Life’ from the smart-ring brand, the production team built a miniature city, populated by walking, running, sleeping, dancing, loving hands. Some BTS here
In what is becoming a familiar and not unwelcome trend, they made it a point to share that they “shunned AI in favour of handmade sets and practical effects”. Its been done all in-camera, with sets and miniatures and working trains… and a famous finger choreographer, Lilach Chen.
Directed by Sam Walker · Nice & Frank · Superprime Films ·
Full credits
3. Bankrupt Bros
· Gettying It Done ·
Getty Images is filing for bankruptcy. Which is kinda wild for so many of us who have always had it in our work lives as the behemoth. This is a major reset after its planned merger with rival Shutterstock fell through.
Except- as with so much in consuming headlines or blurbs or tweets– there’s a bit more nuance. Getty went public in 2022. Since then, shares have lost about 99% of their value. But this bankruptcy is not intended to materially change the way it works, its operations, or its clients & vendors. With heavy debt and– of course– growing competition from AI-generated imagery, Getty plans to go private again in 2027, and double down its focus on its editorial and news imagery. This makes sense given it revealed that its iStock e-comm business has suffered from “declining agency demand and disruption”. One can only presume this is due in no small part due to clients/users lured by AI services and their ease of quick stock images, provenance notwithstanding.
In fact, “Getty projects growth in its core editorial image unit, forecasting that the division that’s powered by news images (i.e., real photos of actual events that have occurred)”. It’s telling that THR has to clarify what ‘news images’ implies here!
· Character Test ·
Talking of AI and bankruptcy, on the flip side of this spectrum, we had the news that Character.AI was also filing for bankruptcy. There might be less nuance needed here- here is a company that made AI bots & avatars for people to talk to, got many young people to interact with them, garnered some great numbers, only to be followed by great costs and then be plagued by a slew of legal issues.
One must wonder how much of the initial rush to use Character.ai– which was very significant– was the sheer novelty of it all, back in 2022-23. We have seen such explosions of users to newly launched consumer-AI products (hello Sora), followed by a cool-off.
Tech crunch has a good overview, with this to finish, “It also shows that consumer-facing AI products are really hard to scale and monetize. Character.AI was one of the top apps in terms of time spent... But high engagement can be a double-edged sword; AI costs rise the more people use the app, which consequently also increases the pressure to monetize users.”
Oh, and a curious side bit. One of those legal cases was from Disney, who accused the company of infringing on its IP. Character.AI’s recently exited CEO Karandeep Anand is now Disney’s first CTO, and a majority of the employees are likely being taken aboard Disney amidst this restructure. Its interesting how this has played out, given the number of legal battles around both safety and infringement. Wired says, “Disney Asked Character.AI to Go Bankrupt for a Get-Out-of-Lawsuits Card… [it] hopes to get trust and safety tech, among other IP, from a startup whose chatbots dozens of states allege encouraged minors to self-harm and kill their parents.”
➕Quick Hits
Facebook has launched a reels-first feed in some countries like India. Yeah, so it goes straight to video. For everyone wondering what happened to Facebook… wonder a lot more.
YouTube’s 1 October announcement that it would reduce the reach of videos re-uploaded without significant changes or added value has raised questions about whether India’s nascent clipping business can scale further.
Netflix will air all 104 matches of the 2030 World Cup in Spain, as it scooped semi-exclusive rights- Spain games and the semis/finals will air on FTA. Sports continues to hover over every strategy.
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Till next week, go find something worth being intentional about?