đș 400 issues young
Issue #400
Welcome to our 400th edition. Who would have thought weâd make it this far. The hardest thing about this particular creator enterprise was starting, I hemmed and hawed for ages. But once we were off weâve managed to keep it going week in week out for eight years now. But weâve only been able to do that thanks to the team weâve had working on it. A big shout out to Tim Colman who is as much the heart and soul of this newsletter as me. He writes most of the items each week, sets the tone and makes sure thereâs a draft for us to work on first thing every Wednesday morning. There is a long list of other people to thank along the way, Hafiz, Victor, Way Lin, Jeko, Tishia, Bayu, Edward, Erik, Gisele and more who have contributed over time. I read last week that creators with teams tend to have more success, it is undoubtedly the case. Consistency is key, and a team creates consistency. I canât believe weâve been consistently publishing for eight years and I am very proud of what we have achieved. But we couldnât have done it without readers, so my biggest thanks is to you, dear subscriber. Thanks for sticking with us. Happy Thursday, Simon.
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Creators arenât billboards
Goldman Sachs once claimed the creator economy could be worth USD 250 billion globally. Itâs since nearly doubled this prediction claiming the sector will be worth USD 480 billion by next year. In the face of this growth many industry experts are pushing creators to see themselves as a media business, not just a billboard. Part of the reason Goldman doubled its prediction is that brands now recognise creators as a unique media channel and cultural partner. To reach this figure creators need to build content that moves seamlessly across social, e-commerce and the real world with clear licensing terms that generate more than just âviralâ revenue streams. This long term content creation is underpinned by audience trust - they can spot a fake immediately, so creators need to focus on social consciousness and not the flex.
Real time creator payments
While the creator economy might be on its way to a huge USD 480 billion valuation it doesnât mean every creator is getting paid. In response, a new platform called Digitalage launched a patent-pending system designed to fix the âmarket structure problemâ where most creators earn nothing. Instead of relying on unpredictable ad sharing revenue or algorithms the new platform will link payments to real time verified audience attention. Creators will no longer have to worry about vanity metrics, hidden calculations or delayed platform payments. Money is generated as the audience is watching your content. It also fits into the existing infrastructure meaning itâs not another destination platform. Sounds promising, letâs see if it gets patented.
Creators stretching advertising laws
This one probably wonât affect our Singapore readers but brands operating in highly regulated industries are using creators. KANHA, a US legal cannabis edibles brand, is launching a new limited-edition gummy (âPeach Paradiseâ) in direct collaboration with digital creator Koala Puffs. Despite being legal in many US States certain laws forbid cannabis brands from undertaking traditional paid advertising. Creators are offering these brands a loophole. (Could we see alcohol and finance brands doing the same?) Koala Puffs herself has built a reputation for honest edible reviews so this partnership makes sense. While regulated industries are always looking for new ways to advertise, creators should be careful who they partner with. It will take a very brave influencer to push tobacco products.
AI for Creators by Erik Magelssen
I think growing fast and growing well are genuinely different problems and Anthropic just chose which one matters more to them. Third-party Claude platforms no longer fall under standard subscriptions and now bill separately, a quiet but meaningful shift for creators whoâve been running these tools as part of their daily stack. No episode this week but weâll pick this up soon.
Cool Tools
Not every lens needs a gimmick but when the gimmick is considered, it stops being a gimmick. The 7Artisans Floral Bloom 57mm produces inward-pointing cone-shaped bokeh that pulls the background deep into the frame while keeping the subject completely sharp. The result is surreal in the best sense, the kind of image that makes people ask what theyâre looking at before they ask how you made it.
Hot Tips
Thereâs a particular type of person who buys a camera and another type entirely depending on which camera they buy. A creator broke that down this week in two parts and itâs the most entertainingly accurate roast of photographer culture Iâve seen in a while. Funny because itâs specific. Worth finding if you own a camera and can take a joke.
Viral Hits
The far side of the moon turns out to be a completely different place from the one we think we know and the Artemis II photos from this week make that hard to unsee. The crew described color shifts live as they flew over, greens and browns in the highlands that map to mineral composition, and the images have a texture and brightness that feels almost unfamiliar. Illustrators got there fast and the creative response to these photos has been one of the more unexpected things in feeds this week.
Stuff from us
Our design studio Click2View Design spent some time recently making something we wanted to make rather than something we were asked to. The result is a CG exploration of the Audi e-tron GT that approaches the car as a material study, raw surfaces, precision components, and the kind of visual detail that only 3D motion design can get close to. If youâre curious about what this kind of work could look like for your brand, weâd genuinely enjoy that conversation.