Figma's Auto Layout Now Speaks Fluent CSS
Auto layout now works more like CSS, so what you design lines up more closely with what actually gets built. Small differences between how auto layout and CSS handle layout meant developers had to add workarounds at handoff to make the built version match the canvas — this update closes those gaps. On top of that, auto layout's auto spacing now has two new options, "Around" and "Evenly", alongside the existing default "Between" — matching spacing patterns CSS already supports.
Guinness Hides Its Harp in Plain Sight
Guinness has launched a new global OOH campaign that turns its 160-year-old harp into a typographic device, swapping the letter 'V' in the word "Lovely" for the iconic brand mark. Created by AMV BBDO, the 'LoVely' campaign gives fresh life to the classic 'Lovely Day for a Guinness' platform, which dates back to the brand's famous 1930s advertising. The idea is simple, yet brilliant: take the word "Lovely," swap the "v" for the harp mark, and feature it everywhere across the entire brand mix — once you've seen it in action, it feels as if it might always have been there.
London Design Festival Opens Doors Across the Capital
The 24th edition of the London Design Festival (12–20 September 2026) is upon us, bringing a city-wide celebration of high-concept installations, material innovation, and creative community. For the first time in LDF history, Soho is firmly on the festival map, and the programme will feature over 150 designers and makers, including Isamaya Ffrench (Studio Iron), Rafael Prieto, and Zoë Chinonso Ene. Visitors can expect to be invited into active woodworking studios and experience radical curatorial shifts at the Southbank Centre.
Motion Awards X: Free Bonus Entry Until September 30
The Motion Awards X reopens for Motionographer's 20th anniversary, combining 2025 and 2026 work in one edition for the first time. Their birthday gift: every submission through September 30 includes one extra entry, free. The final deadline is January 15, 2027. Separately, to mark Motionographer's 20th anniversary, job postings on Motionographer Jobs are free from September 10 through September 29, every submission personally reviewed, every approved listing live for 30 days — meaning emerging studios are actively posting right now.
Mona Chalabi: Data Illustration as an Act of Empathy
Tonight at SVA Theatre in New York, It's Nice That's Nicer Tuesdays event features Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and illustrator Mona Chalabi, whose work has been featured in The New Yorker, The Guardian, and on platforms such as Netflix, NPR, and National Geographic. Mona will be joining It's Nice That's US editor at large, Elizabeth Goodspeed, on stage for a Q&A on her newest book *Ten Lives: How What We Have Shapes Who We Are*. Nicer Tuesdays is a global event from It's Nice That — an evening of talks where speakers from across the creative sphere share insights from landmark projects, fun, candid and ever-eclectic.
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5 stories · under 10 minutes. See you tomorrow.
TODAY’S THREADEvery story today is really about the same thing: **knowing the rules well enough to hide them.** Figma's auto layout hides the complexity of CSS so your design and code finally speak the same language. Guinness hides a 160-year-old logo inside a single letter. LDF hides conceptual depth inside material spectacle. The Motion Awards hide an opportunity inside a birthday discount. And Mona Chalabi hides hard truths inside a drawing. The designers who win — at every level — are the ones who master a system so completely they can make it disappear.