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Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

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The GRADIENT

Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

Sarah Elawad on breaking graphic design rules to make space for joy, hope and activism

The British-Sudanese designer gives us an insight into the influences behind her kitschy, maximalist style, revealing how she’s using her unique visual language as a tool to challenge ideas around beauty and celebrate everything the West typically overlooks when searching for things that are designed “well”.

Starting Or Steering The Wave

I wrote a LinkedIn post on this very topic a while ago, and people seemed, at least, reasonably interested. So I thought I’d expand on it a little. It is, IMO, a very good way of framing how you can generate real value from trends. The value of our traditional (if we’re being fair, beige)

Dow Jones Bolsters Events, Brand Teams With Two Senior Hires

Dow Jones has appointed Andrew Essex as its brand director in residence and Delwyn Gray as head of events, according to an internal memo obtained by ADWEEK. A spokesperson for the company confirmed the appointments. Essex will step into a newly-created role focused on brand strategy across Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal properties. He

The ultimate logo quiz: think you know your 1930s logos?

We’ve already tested you on the best 1920s logos quiz, but what about the best logos from the 1930s? This isn’t just a ‘guess the logo’ quiz, there are plenty of those around, but more of a logo trivia extravaganza. We include questions on everything from the Audi logo to early renderings of the Warner

Google Discover Core Update Data: Local Publishers Lost Reach

An analysis from Discover tracking tool DiscoverSnoop adds to the post-update data available on Google’s Discover core update, confirming some patterns identified in earlier NewzDash analysis while contradicting others. The DiscoverSnoop report compared article counts and audience scores for publishers in the week before the update began (January 26 to February 1) against the week

Most consumers use AI, but few fully trust it

AI is already influencing how consumers discover products and make decisions. But a new global study from Klaviyo shows something marketers should pay closer attention to: usage is rising quickly, while trust is not. The “Klaviyo AI Persona Research,” based on a survey of nearly 8,000 consumers, found 60% now use AI tools at least

Noire. :: Behance

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Google Maps Launches AI Conversational Search With Ask Maps

Google Maps is launching Ask Maps, a conversational feature powered by Gemini that lets users ask complex questions about locations and receive AI-generated suggestions on a personalized map. The feature is now rolling out in the U.S. and India on Android and iOS, with a desktop version coming soon. What Ask Maps Does Ask Maps lets

The Middle East is at war. Ad budgets are on watch

Wars don’t pause for marketing plans but they do rewrite them. The world, for better or worse, keeps spending. That much has been clear from conversations with ad execs since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. In the second week of the war, the furor has been all about oil and gasoline prices. Neither feels

This music video captures the spirit of jazz drumming with musical glyphs and a fuzzy film style

A Visual Exploration Into Jazz is a collaboration between DV Studio: designer and director Jay Vaz and motion designer Lawrie Miller – who met in university and have created together for the last ten years – and the filmmaking duo Twin, also known as the Inglis Twins. Featuring UK jazz drummer Mackwood, the short film

Formidable Forms Flaw Lets Attackers Pay Less For Expensive Purchases

A vulnerability in the Formidable Forms WordPress plugin installed on over 300,000 websites enables unauthenticated attackers to bypass payment verification. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 6.28. It makes it possible for attackers to reuse a Stripe payment made for a lower amount to mark a more expensive transaction as paid. Formidable

Newscasts See Growth in Demo

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir remained the most-watched newscast in the country with total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo during the first week of March. The unrest in the Middle East dominated the news cycle this past week. The news viewership benefited WNT, which increased its lead over its fellow timeslot competitors

47% off coffee machines is the perfect excuse to break up with watery instant brew

Investing in a coffee machine isn’t an easy decision. There are so many swanky ways to procure your morning brew, and I’m definitely guilty of resorting to my handmade drip pot based on pretentious bragging rights alone. While trad coffee brewing methods might be worth the social clout, the convenience of a coffee machine is

Knowing History Strengthens Your Communications Strategy

TL;DR Understanding history helps communicators make smarter decisions, avoid tone-deaf messaging, and craft a stronger communications strategy. By paying attention to past events and cultural context, communicators can better anticipate how messages will be interpreted and avoid repeating mistakes brands have made before. History also reveals patterns—such as how denial, defensiveness, or performative messaging can

ChatGPT’s Default & Premium Models Search The Web Differently

Ask ChatGPT’s default and premium models the same question, and they’ll cite almost entirely different sources, according to a Writesonic analysis. GPT-5.4 Thinking, ChatGPT’s premium model, sent 56% of its citations to brand websites. GPT-5.3 Instant, the default for all logged-in ChatGPT users, sent 8%. Across all prompts, the two models shared only 7% of

Rethinking marketing workflows for a smarter future

We know the pressure of spending more time hunting for the right asset or manually stitching data together than actually marketing. While AI dominates the headlines, its true power isn’t just in “more content.” It’s in what it can subtract. At the March MarTech Conference session, “Say goodbye to busywork by rethinking marketing workflows,” experts

WordPress Security Release 6.9.4 Fixes Issues 6.9.2 Failed To Address

WordPress published a troubled security release version 6.9.2 to patch ten vulnerabilities that also caused some sites to crash (display a white screen), so WordPress quickly followed up with a bugfix release version 6.9.3. Today, WordPress announced another update, version 6.9.4 because not all of the vulnerabilities were adequately addressed. WordPress security firm Wordfence published

Amazon ia making efforts to better manage the AI narrative

Artificial intelligence has a trust problem and companies — particularly those like Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI and others — are facing an uphill battle trying to solve it. Amazon made more deliberate efforts late last month to better manage the narrative. The company hosted its first “editorial exchange” event in Seattle late last month, where it pitched

Diogo Potes’ paintings take poetic licence to a whole new level

Diogo’s paintings mark a new era in his creative career. Back in 2023, It’s Nice That spoke to Diogo about his graphic design work and his two decade career at the head of some of Lisbon’s most prominent graphic design studios. Designing for Festival Iminente and Lux Frágil, Diogo tuned his style to skillfully meet

WordPress Gutenberg 22.7 Lays Groundwork For AI Publishing

tag inside the block). Preview Style Variation Transforms In The Editor Core blocks such as Heading, Image, Paragraph, and Button include built-in style variations. There is now a live preview for style variation transforms, allowing users to see how a style change will look before applying it. The official announcement explains: “Style variation transforms now

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