When Everything is Make-Believe

Design Digest #18

Jul 25, 2026

The burger in the ad is never the burger in the wrapper. We all know this. The one in the ad has been brushed, propped, lacquered, and lit by someone hired precisely to make food look like food never looks like. The real stuff wouldn't get you to buy a burger at all. That's advertising, though.

In Europe, due to the EU AI Act, from August on, realistic-looking AI generated images will have to be labeled with a disclaimer telling you they were AI generated. Regulators don't want people believing a thing is real when it isn't. And protecting that is a decent instinct. I understand the thinking, but I don't get it.

For a long time, the ad industry and the internet as a whole has all been about selling people a faux version of reality. An elevated make-believe. Models wearing clothes they'd never choose. Product screens dropped into stock imagery. Happy faces implying they love something they have never really touched or used.

So, I think a warning on AI generated fakes sits really odd next to all the fakes we never thought of labeling. I understand the thinking, but what’s the point?

Other things on my mind:

Morioka Shoten: A Bookshop with One Book

A bookshop in Tokyo that sells a single title. I like this concept. Different from what book stores usually look like, and a complete polar opposite to the Amazon everything-store approach. Creating an art exhibition for each single book is a beautiful way of celebrating the amount of work that goes into producing a book. That’s gold. Also, a nice touch is how the logo developed by Takram always includes the shop’s address. Because the whole point is that you have to visit. I wish I could.

Coca-Cola: A Distinctive Red Square

Coca-Cola now looks like Marlboro. This has been the argument behind the most recent backlash in the long list of rebranding backlashes. Yes, if you look at a specific cut of the font, maybe it does. But I also think that the guys at Jones Knowles Ritchie know very well what they’re doing. The most refreshing thing is the placement of the wordmark inside a square. It takes a little to get used to it, but it’s very iconic. And the font… the font has more cuts other than the compressed.

Auro Luxe: Wealthsimple in 3D

With AI we tend to look for shortcuts, and to overlook the work and the effort that goes behind the very polished work we admire. I enjoyed going through the thoughts and process behind this case for Wealthsimple, by Auron Luxe a 3D Designer/Animator that works at the agency Buck.

Adobe: AI is Essential for Creators

Adobe released a report where they found that large majority of the content creators surveyed are optimistic about using AI for creative work. It’s integrated in their workflows, it’s essential to how they work, and I was surprised to read that nearly half of them even say it makes them feel safe about their future. I really welcome Adobe’s efforts in reading the room when it comes to AI, but I was expecting the results to be much more nuanced. If anything AI makes me feel unsafe about my future. That said, I don’t personally know many content creators.

Lacoste: Back to the Archive

The maker of the overpriced Polo-shirt has refreshed its identity with the goal of sharpening its brand positioning and French character. Taking cues from what other premium fashion brands like Burberry have recently done, they embraced the value of heritage and nostalgia. Done with taste, and with more character than before. By Commission Studio.

Ana Malai: Collage, a Generative Tool

When it comes to brand design, the biggest potential I see in AI is the possibility of building your own generative tools, especially the ones that allow you to create bespoke visual languages at scale. Collage by Ana Malai is mesmerizing and I could easily imagine a tool like this being used for brand work. Don’t forget to try the camera interaction when playing with it.