TLDR Design 2026-06-03

Wix laid off 1,000 employees, representing 20% of its workforce, citing the strengthening of the Israeli shekel against the US dollar and the rapid evolution of AI capabilities. CEO Avishai Abrahami explained that the currency pressure creates structural challenges since most costs are in shekels while revenue is in dollars. This follows a trend of major tech companies cutting jobs to adapt to AI advancements, with AI being linked to 50,000 job cuts last year.

Canva has upgraded its Image to Video tool to support animated human faces, while also adding workflow improvements like live mobile previews and AI-powered presenter notes. Publishing integrations with Facebook, Pinterest, and cloud platforms, plus marketing apps for HubSpot and Meta Ads, let users create and publish without ever leaving Canva. These moves signal Canva's ambition to compete beyond design tools, though maintaining its signature simplicity while adding professional-grade features remains a key challenge ahead.

Apple may be exploring a new OLED display technology called high-mobility oxide (HMO) for future Apple Watches. Compared to today's LTPO displays, HMO could reduce power consumption and manufacturing complexity, potentially leading to significantly longer battery life and lower production costs. LG Display is reportedly developing the technology, but it still faces technical challenges in achieving the speed and reliability Apple requires. If development progresses smoothly, HMO could appear in Apple Watches around 2027 or later, with possible future adoption in iPhones, though neither Apple nor LG has confirmed these plans.

AI has quietly transformed modern UX patterns by integrating intelligent features into user interfaces. The technology has changed how users interact with digital products through improved workflows and design approaches. This shift represents a significant evolution in product design that helps companies create more user-friendly experiences.

Effective product discovery starts by evaluating whether a customer signal is worth investigating at all. Before committing to research or development, teams should assess whether a signal is genuinely significant, reflects an underlying customer need rather than a feature request, and aligns with strategic priorities. Many teams skip this step, leading them to solve the wrong problems. While AI can help identify patterns in customer feedback, determining which signals point to meaningful opportunities still requires human judgment.

A recent study found that while only 25% of people could confidently identify AI-generated advertisements, human-made ads consistently performed better, scoring 14% higher on short-term sales impact and 17% higher on long-term brand health. Research on web content revealed that human-written articles appeared in the top spot in Google search results 80% of the time compared to just 9% for AI-generated content. The data suggests people subconsciously prefer human creativity because AI can only replicate existing patterns rather than make genuine creative breakthroughs or emotional connections.

Letters shaped by text. Pick a font, choose your colors, and watch type come alive.

Greyscaler is a tool that generates grayscale color palettes with varying intensity levels. It provides 11 different shades ranging from very light to very dark.

HueGrid offers various gradient types, including 2D patterns, 3D effects, mesh blending, noise-based organic gradients, aurora effects, and specialized features like liquid chrome and particle fields.

Tom Chung builds his design theory through self-initiated projects that emphasize material honesty and production constraints rather than trends. His transition from working at Umbra to independent practice allowed him to develop a clear, concept-driven approach that prioritizes function and clarity over decoration. Working in Toronto's limited design ecosystem, he turned local materials and production techniques into resources that shaped his distinctive design language.

Velvele created Omnui's identity around a flexible dot-based visual system inspired by both indigenous symbolism and digital graphics, allowing icons to represent concepts such as assessment, movement, recovery, nourishment, and connection while feeling simultaneously organic, human, and technological. The brand name and visual language evolved together, reinforcing themes of longevity, science, community, and self-discovery. To stand apart from typical wellness branding, Omnui uses a distinctive palette of “Subtle Yellow” and “Offline Black,” balancing warmth with introspection. The identity is anchored by the geometric sans-serif typeface ABC Favorit, which provides clarity and precision against the more symbolic and expressive icon system.

Variable fonts are single OpenType files that contain continuous ranges of design variants, replacing multiple separate font files with one file that can interpolate between different weights, widths, and other characteristics. They use variation axes like weight, width, italic, slant, and optical size to provide infinite control over typography. Variable fonts have become the professional standard for type design, with 92% browser compatibility and adoption by 40% of websites, making proficiency in them a career-defining skill for type designers.

Dee Juusan is an award-winning manga artist based in Jordan who creates emotionally rich stories through high-contrast black-and-white imagery.

Ahead of WWDC 2026 on June 8, Apple is building excitement for the unveiling of iOS 27 and other updates with new promotional videos, a themed “Glow all out” wallpaper, and an official Apple Music playlist.

Apple released new app icons for Creator Studio that are so confusing that the company had to create a user guide to help users distinguish between them.