With design inspo from the big brands in business to questions surrounding the future of AI, we launch into 2024… Join us as we look to a bold, bright year ahead expanding on all tools, old and new.
1. Meta Launches New Teen Safety Measures To Limit Unwanted DM Contact
This month Meta started the year off on a good foot with the aim to build on their teen user protections. New default settings will include restrictions that will limit who can DM teen users on both Instagram and Facebook Messenger. With these changes teens can only receive messages from people they follow. As these are default settings users can switch them off. But in the case of teens who have their profiles connected via Meta’s Family Center, they will also need parental permission to update these settings. We’re seeing this as a positive start to a year of new technology and social media advances. Read more here.
2. Universal Music Will Pull Its Tracks From TikTok
In recent news for Tiktok users, Universal Music Group is planning to withdraw their music from the app after negotiations between the two companies failed to reach an agreement on usage rights. Home to some of the biggest music artists in the world including Taylor Swift, Adele, and Billie Eilish, Universal has announced that they will withdraw their music as of Feb 1st, their reasoning being that that TikTok offered less than they had hoped on both compensation for artists, as well as safeguards about generative AI usage. They claimed that TikTok “is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.” But though Tiktok is holding its ground, we will shortly see what repercussions this move has for the platform. Read here.
3. A database Listing Thousands of Artist Names Has Been Allegedly Compiled by Midjourney Developers to Train the Text-to-Image Tool
As we step into 2024, the rapidly changing digital world seems unable to keep up with itself. With new technology comes new challenges and one of these is copyright rules and royalties when it comes to AI. Like any other tool, AI has to be programmed and an ongoing class-action lawsuit between a group of artists and major AI companies has brought to light that Midjourney has gathered a database of artists to train its next text-to-image tool. With thousands of artists’ names, spanning all styles and generations, they would be able to reproduce various artistic styles easily. So where do we draw the line of plagiarism? Could computer programs be using these artists’ work as inspiration? Can AI even be inspired? These are uncharted waters for artists, programmers, even lawyers and the outcome of these lawsuits should set the precedent for how we engage with AI in the future. Learn more here!
4. Forward Thinking: What will 2024 bring for the creative community?
This month the team at It’s Nice That explores the design trends that will unfold in 2024, from new technology to old. Following the seemingly endless global upheaval, we’re expecting to see work that is impactful. Though AI will still be evolving and expanding, artists will be taking their work into their own hands, the team explains, especially as we see a resurgence in old technology, materials and practices from stop motion to hand-drawn design. Take a deep-dive into their predicted future here.
5. The design trends you need to know about for 2024
This month we’ve gained some visual insight into the rest of 2024 from one of the biggest visual platforms. From pixelation to collage and geometric shapes, the team at Canva see a digital world that reflects some nostalgia while sticking to the practical modern tools we’re all used to. Artists and designers will be embracing Surrealism, creating a sense of otherworldliness or ‘weirdness’ in campaigns that will offer an escape from our sometimes challenging reality. While bold colours, typefaces and branding will inject some joy into the everyday. Tap here to explore more of these trends.