A few weeks ago, Nintendo launched the new Switch 2. Instead of waiting for a delivery or clicking “pre-order,” hundreds of people lined up outside a Smyths store at midnight, dressed as characters from their favorite games. Not out of necessity, but to be together—despite living in a market designed to eliminate waiting. No clicks, no algorithms: just people choosing to share a moment in person.
Midnight launches, thought extinct in the digital era, are making a comeback. Not out of nostalgia, but out of hunger for shared experiences.
Recent data from The Secret Cinema shows that 80% of people actively seek experiences with a direct, emotional, and collective impact. They’re called collective awe: emotionally charged moments that only work if experienced together, in real life. Concerts, immersive events, live podcasts, interactive cinema.
It’s no longer enough to just “be online” or create content. Audiences expect brands to step out of the feed and become the reason people gather.
In the heart of the Politecnico di Milano campus, in the room everyone calls “the Ship,” architect Renzo Piano greets his students with an ironic smile: “I’m not a real professor—today I offer myself up for martyrdom.”
This is how an extraordinary exam begins, where the master is the first to challenge himself.
Here, students don’t just present a project—they start from one of Piano’s iconic works, identify a flaw or omission, and propose a solution. It’s a powerful exercise that breaks down hierarchical barriers and stimulates critical thinking.
Joining him on this special day is Richard Axel, Nobel Prize winner for Medicine. Together, architecture and neuroscience exchange views on creativity, on how ideas are born from dialectical “ping pong” between curious minds, and on the beauty of mystery that can’t always be explained.
“Will our brain ever be able to understand itself?” Axel asks. Piano replies, “Maybe not, but that’s okay.”
The students’ projects range from interventions on Parisian social housing to a tensile structure for the Rome Auditorium. Piano listens, critiques, praises, and challenges them. There’s room for everything—even artificial intelligence.
More than a lecture, it’s a cultural legacy. A call to imagination, courage, and awareness. Because, as Piano says, “Ideas aren’t just ours—they’re born from what we’ve loved, read, and lived.”
In a world dominated by images, The Economist chooses words. Red background to capture attention, white text to leave a mark. No photos, no effects—just sharp ideas written with precision.
The new campaign “Make AI worried you’re going to take its job” doesn’t aim to reassure, but to provoke. It’s an invitation to think, to stand out, to resist automation.
Where many rely on aesthetics to convey their message, The Economist bets everything on language. It’s a visual identity that never needs refreshing to stay relevant.
Every headline is built to last—reading it means activating something: a smile, a thought, a doubt.
It’s communication that doesn’t seek approval but sparks reflection. From “Would you like to sit next to you at dinner?” to “I never read The Economist.” – Management trainee, aged 42 – The Economist has always bet on human intelligence. And it does so with what AI still lacks: doubt, irony, discomfort.
In collaboration with international creative studio Koto, the travel platform has launched a bold rebranding that marks its shift from a simple guide to a global engine for planning and booking experiences.
Inspiration comes from real reviews and stories from travelers around the world. They themselves provide the imagery—or rather, the photos—used in communications, always paired with genuine comments taken straight from the reviews.
The custom typeface, Trip Sans, is playful and welcoming, with forms that echo the bubbles from Tripadvisor’s iconic rating system. The color palette has also been refreshed to better express the brand’s soul: the classic green becomes more vibrant, with the addition of Trip Pine to convey reliability and Trip White to lighten and improve legibility.
Finally, the mascot Ollie the owl becomes more expressive and “alive,” with eyes that follow user content, as if to say: “you’re the star here.”
Tripadvisor’s challenge today is to no longer be just a travel platform, but a community built by those who truly live the world.
