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On September 15th Apple released iOS 26 – featuring a controversial all-new design language that they’re calling “Liquid Glass”. Drawing inspiration from transparency, magnification and reflection of actual glass, Apple is trying a new twist at “skeuomorphism” – a classic design practice that incorporates real-world visual elements and textures into digital interfaces.

Raj and Ben take you on a journey through the evolution of smart phone interface design and explore the implications of this radical new design language by such an industry leader.

What does Liquid Glass mean for brands?

Will other companies need to adopt this new design aesthetic?

How does Google’s new “Material 3 Expressive” design language compare to Apple’s update?

Is Liquid Glass actually good design?

And perhaps more importantly, is Liquid Glass good for us?

Have you updated to iOS 26? What do you think of Apple’s new design?

Macy Robison’s Leadership Quiz and Podcast: https://macyrobison.com/

Without an artist, is it still considered art?

Spotify has begun sneaking “AI Ghost Artists” into their listener’s playlists. To the casual listener, these ghosts may sound like real artists – but they offer a big advantage to Spotify: They don’t have to pay royalties to AI musicians.

Ben and Raj explore the moral, business, and existential ramifications of a world filled with soulless, generative art and music.

🤪Is entertainment designed to exploit human emotions psychopathic?

🎵Can humans truly be moved by music devoid of true story, talent, and emotion?

🎨What makes something art?

Welcome to Season 4 of Growing a Fruitful Brand.

#ai #aighostartists #spotify #aimusic

It’s not every day that a nationwide rebrand emergency happens – Ben and Raj could no longer keep silent about the branding story of our generation: The Great Cracker Barrel Fiasco

What happened?: Last week, Cracker Barrel released a new logo, the internet melted, their stock plummeted, President Trump scolded them, and they went back to their old logo. 

That’s the story in a nutshell, anyway.

Was the visual rebrand really that bad? Or was this really just a political story that got way out of hand?

Join Raj and Ben as they unpack the attempted rebrand from a design and branding perspective, and learn a valuable lesson about differentiation and honoring your brand’s history. 

#crackerbarrel #rebrand #emergency #graphicdesign #logo #crackerbarrellogo #branding #trump

This interview offers practical, actionable tips for crafting a weekly plan that maximizes your productivity. Derek Imai is the founder of Parliament Consulting and specializes in leading owners and entrepreneurs from feeling overwhelmed to flourishing. He is a certified coach in both Working Genius as well as the Full Focus Planner (Both of which are discussed in this interview). Learn how to prioritize your tasks, schedule your time effectively, and create a roadmap for achieving your goals. 

Here’s a peek at Derek’s four focus hacks:

Plan your week before it starts 🗓️

Determine three big tasks that you need to accomplish every day ✅

Designate certain places and routine for work 🏡

Listen to the same playlist every time you need to do focused work 🎧

Check out Derek’s workshop and coaching opportunities, today!:

https://www.parliament.consulting/

In this episode Ben Lueders and Raj Lulla unpack what the heck has been going on at Southwest Airlines– and what we can all learn from their potential brand FAIL. 🛬

In this episode:

What was so great about Southwest? ✈️

What's changing at Southwest (and why)? 🧳

How will Southwest’s changes affect their brand? 🤔

What can your brand learn from Southwest's failure? 📈

Famed branding and marketing guru Scott Galloway (Prof G) recently made some bold claims about the state of branding, advertising and marketing. In our latest episode of Growing a Fruitful Brand, brand designer Ben Lueders and brand strategist Raj Lulla react to his recent comments.

#branding #advertising #marketing #brandstrategy #brand #design #profg #scottgalloway

In the latest episode of Growing a Fruitful Brand, designer Ben Lueders interviews Lauren Cibene, author of the upcoming memoir, Tiger in a Lifeboat (available May 6). When Lauren needed a cover designer - she immediately thought of Fruitful. But why? Ben and Lauren get into what it was like working with each other, what makes a good book cover, and what the Fruitful design process is really like. If you’ve ever considered writing your first book, this episode may help you understand what to look for in a good design partner!

#instabook #read #books #booklover #bookstagram #reading #bookworm #bookish #bookaddict #bookstagrammer #booklove #booklovers #instabooks #reader #design #graphicdesign #bookdesign #cover #coverart #coverdesign #designprocess #process #author #newauthors #illustration

Fruitful founder and designer Ben Lueders just wrote a book with the help of his creative kids! “Escape from Terikiak” is the first book in a new children’s adventure series, and geared toward kids ages 8-13 (although all ages enjoy it).

Buy the book here: https://www.benlueders.com/book

In this episode of Growing a Fruitful Brand, Raj interviews Ben about:

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒The process of writing a book with your kids

🤝The challenges and joys of creative collaboration 

🤔When to make something for yourself and when to share it with others

🦭Why a Walrus drinking coffee was a great creative idea

🏝️A crazy coincidence between Ben’s book and Treasure Island

🐢Which Ninja Turtle are you?

🕵How Ben’s book almost turned into Spy Kids 2

When your job is to be creative all the time, surrounding yourself with inspiring, creative tools becomes a big priority. In the latest episode of Growing a Fruitful Brand, Raj and Ben share each of their top five creative tools of the last year! From guitars and cameras, to fountain pens and automatic watches – there’s a lot of fun recommendations in this conversation! Some of the brands mentioned in this episode:

Taylor

Lego

Fellow

Kaweco 

Canon

Fujifilm

ReMarkable

Apple

Seiko

Notist Stationery

Schuyler

#taylorguitars #lego #fellowmugs #kaweco #fountainpens #journals #journaling #canon #fuji #remarkable #remarkablepaperpro #apple #airpods #iPad #seiko #alpinist #automaticwatches #meinkraft #notiststationery #schuylerbibles