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8 June 2025 | Issue #96

In this issue:

• Time to Update the Brand
• How to Turn Images into Videos With AI
• The Hottest New Vibe Coding Startup, Lovable, Is a Sitting Duck for Hackers
• Design Quote of the Week – One of my all-time favorite design quotes!

Wait a second, there's a new logo at the top.

What happened to After Design?

What is Marketing by Design?

Yes, this newsletter now has a new name.

Why?

This is a concept that I've been playing around with since the beginning of the year. I noticed that this newsletter had shifted from its original intention.

The original mission of After Design was to help designers pivot to adjacent fields. This came about because I was afraid that AI was going to displace many of their jobs. While I still think that's a significant concern, the future I was worried about is now here.

Some designers heeded the warning. Others didn't. For those who are still in AI denial, I wish them luck.

Also, my interests are constantly expanding. I don't just us AI in design situations. I've been using Cursor to "vibe code" a couple of new personal websites. Overall, I'm just a little more interested in marketing as a whole, and design is a part of that.

What does this mean for you?

Not much will change.

If you're a regular reader, my stories and spotlights typically focus on areas of marketing beyond design (as Bruce Scheer recently pointed out, Beyond Design would have been a better name for this initial concept). Last week, we talked about AI's impact on marketing jobs. Previous issues focused on SEO and AI, HBO Max's rebranding, and vendor lock-in of AI systems. While I did cover OpenAI's acquisition of designer Jony Ive's company, there hasn't been a lot of design-specific content.

So the format of the newsletter won't change. I even kept the visual branding similar to help ensure a smooth transition. In the future, I might evolve the visual identity further, but for right now, for the sake of continuity, I found a way for the logo, type, and colors to mirror what we've been doing for the previous 95 issues.

This name represents what the newsletter has evolved into.

It better reflects my interests ... and yours

I like the double meaning of the name:

1. Being intentional about marketing
2. My history of being a designer who evolved into a marketer

Also, I see the stats. I see what you folks click on and what you comment on. Without realizing it, you've already told me that this is the right direction.

I'm fortunate to have a community of brilliant marketers within the RISE community who helped me vet the name. They asked the right questions to challenge the idea.

One challenge I've often had is when I get pigeonholed as a designer. I loved being a designer, but it's not necessary what I do anymore. I've been told it's my superpower, but I loved Alan Lepofsky's description of me: I'm a marketer who happens to be very good at design.

This new identity doesn't erase the design aspect of my interests, but it puts it in the right context.

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​After Design is still alive for anyone who wants to reach out and receive coaching. But for now, I'll keep producing this newsletter to let you know the latest news at the intersection of marketing, AI, and design.

What do you think?

What do you think of the rebranding?

Love it?

Hate it?

Don't care? You only subscribed because you know me, but you don't actually read it?

Let me know in the comment 👇

​ NEWS AT THE INTERSECTION OF MARKETING, DESIGN, & AI

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📽️ How to Turn Images into Videos With AI

This Fresh van Root guide walks through how to animate still images into short-form videos using AI, perfect for social content or storytelling.

• Simple Workflow With Runway & ElevenLabs: Upload images, generate a voiceover, then animate visuals to create an engaging video — no editing experience required.
• Ideal for Marketers & Creators: The process helps repurpose static designs into video formats that perform better on platforms like LinkedIn or TikTok.
• My Take: Rolf is someone I trust when it comes to new ideas like this. Check it out!

​Keep reading​

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📈 Digesting Mary Meeker’s 2025 AI Trends Report

David Armano’s breakdown of the 2025 Mary Meeker report pulls out the key takeaways so you don’t have to wade through the full 300+ slides. His lens on brand, AI, and culture makes it especially relevant to marketers and designers navigating the shifting landscape.

• AI’s Momentum Keeps Building: GenAI remains central to business and creative transformation, but human creativity still plays a key role in interpretation and application.
• Brand Signals Matter More Than Ever: With attention splintering and trust eroding, brand consistency and clarity are becoming essential differentiators.
• My Take: AI is outpacing all other tech adoption. It's been a while since Meeker has published, so it's good to see her in-depth thinking and reporting on a topic that is so critical.

​Keep reading​

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❤️ The Hottest New Vibe Coding Startup, Lovable, Is a Sitting Duck for Hackers

Semafor uncovers how Lovable, the buzzy Gen Z-focused “vibe coding” startup, may have prioritized aesthetics over security—raising serious concerns for anyone building creative platforms around AI or user data.

• Security Takes a Backseat: Despite its sleek brand and viral appeal, Lovable had glaring vulnerabilities that left user data exposed—an all-too-common tradeoff in fast-scaling startups.
• The Aesthetic-First Trap: The report raises a warning for designers and marketers: design that prioritizes ‘vibe’ over trust can backfire fast, especially when consumer expectations of digital safety are high.
• My Take: Thinking of the Venn diagram of fast/cheap/good, it's becoming more obvious that here in the early days of genAI, we're skipping the good part.

​Keep reading​

​ THE VISUAL MARKETER

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The Visual Marketer recently made a top 10 list for Books Every Leader Should Read.
Thanks to Tim Hughes for creating the list!

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RECENT AND UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS

A few days ago I got to present at EvolveDrupal in Boston. My talk was on "Your AI Visuals Are Fine ... Until They're Not." It paired well with sessions before and after mine. Overall, I got to chat with a bunch of smart people throughout the day. Thanks to Maya, Alex, Suzanne, and the team from EvolvingWeb for having me, and to Brian Piper for recommending me.

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I also have a few other podcasts and roundtables in the queue.

If you're looking for podcast guests, or want to collaborate on something, shoot me a DM.

DESIGN QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking.”
– Milton Glaser

My AI disclaimer: I write the main story and additional sections. For the news section, AI writes the summary, and then I contribute My Thoughts. If AI generates the images, I include the prompt so you can see how I got to that image.

Thanks for reading!

–Jim

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