I’ve been calling 2026 the Year of the Weird. The ask it poses is a bold one: to remain unequivocally ourselves.
Wait, hear me out — this is not a fluffy, “bE yOurSelf!” request. Because if you’re really willing to be weird, you’re willing to be brave. You’re seeking the real truth, not loud noise.
Culture stays alive through odd angles, unexpected palettes, the critical video shot from the missing point of view, the voices that don’t quite fit the mold. When everything begins to look the same, the weird difference becomes a form of clarity.
Uniformity can be efficient, but it can also become fragile. Uniformity doesn’t like what’s different.
Year of the Weird means two things:
Make work that stands out. Even if it makes you nervous (because that’s how you know you’re doing something truly bold). Based.
Make work that is true. Take responsibility for what appears on the page, knowing that every sentence helps shape what is normalized, believed, and true. Truth is rarely black and white, and we must be willing to sit in those gray spaces. If there is no truth, then everything floats in spectacle.
In a time of increasing sameness, the bravest thing we can do is leave behind work so honest and strange its truth demands to be noticed.
Stay inspired,
Creative Director
L I N K R O U N D U P
1. Live Type Design Hoodzpah is responsible for some stunnin’ fonts, and Amy Hood and Bea Morgan kindly livestreamed their process on a new script font.
2. Handmade as Luxury In the age of AI, Hermès went in a different direction with a hand-illustrated website by artist Linda Merad. Much like the Arts and Crafts Movement emerged in response to industrialization, the growing accessibility of AI in creative work may drive renewed respect for human craft.
3. Seaweed as Inspiration Visual artists and illustrators Julie Legrand and Nina Izycka work together to create zines based around a specific natural theme. The latest was seaweed. “The pair’s goal is always to make space to try new things and work out a theme that’s linked to nature that they can both immerse themselves in fully when they plan for their next set of pages.” We love finding inspiration in unexpected places and encourage you to dive deep!
4. Graphical User Interface Gallery A digital museum cataloging old computer interfaces and telling a story about the evolution of design through interfaces ranging from Mac OS 1.1 to Windows Vista (and many more). The table of component icons through time is like looking through an archaeological dig.
C R E A T I V E S P O T L I G H T
Learn Copywriting in 76 Minutes with Harry Dry @DavidPerellChannel
Harry Dry is the copywriter behind MarketingExamples.com, a site and newsletter with over 100,000 subscribers, built on powerful, memorable writing.
Harry’s approach has three rules: 1. Can I visualize it? 2. Can I falsify it? Or, can it be objectively proven? 3. Can nobody else say it?
If you get three yeses, you’ve written something more compelling than most B2B headlines. For creatives, this matters more than it sounds.
Strong copy makes your ideas easier to pitch, your work easier to understand, and your brand, including your personal one, easier to remember.
Zengines Case Study From subtle refinements to the wordmark to a restrained yet expressive color palette, every element was designed to balance intelligence with approachability, reinforcing Zengines’ role as a trusted partner in complex data transformation.
When’s the right time to let go of a brand that’s no longer serving your business — even if it’s been working for 10+ years? Members of GigSalad’s team unpack the creative decisions, moments of friction, and meaningful conversations that shaped the transformation, from the original brief to the big reveal.
From introducing a bold new mascot (Hi, Herb! 👋) to crafting a vibrant visual and verbal system, every element was designed to celebrate entertainment, connection, and the moments people remember long after the event ends.
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