Transcription
Spotify just changed their logo and here's why I think it's a leading indicator for what's about to happen with AI.
Spotify's Soundwave logo has been around since 2015. It's similar to a bunch of other logos like Microsoft or Snapchat or Canvas or Claude or literally every other software as a service company on the planet. And it all started when Johnny IV killed skuorphism in 2013 with the release of iOS 7. Before then, digital icons were made to resemble the physical objects. For example, notes was a yellow legal pad with paper texture and Game Center was a green felt poker table. Every icon had that signature glossy highlight.
Then Johnny IV shipped iOS 7 and suddenly everything became flat. Notes turned into a plain white square with yellow heading and Game Center colored circles on a white background. At the time, Design Twitter called it ugly, sterile, and soulless. But within 2 years, every major tech brand already copied the same style. Why? Because Apple sets the rules. And Spotify's disco ball is the first major rejection of that trend.
And soon, the shift away from minimalism is going to happen to AI, too. Every major AI product has the same circular logo with the same basic user interfaces. And to add on top of that, they all have the same flat voice as well. The M dashes, the it's not X, it's Y. And especially the "And honestly, that's rare." It's becoming so repetitive, so noticeable that fatigue is already starting. And if you factor in how fast the internet moves these days, it's not long until people start getting tired of it.
The shift from iOS 7 to Spotify Disco Ball took 11 years. But AI's boring beige lifespan, it's going to be way shorter. And the first AI company to ship its disco ball or something that isn't the same boring flat design, it wins the next phase.
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