Newsletter #11: Shopify’s partnership with Amazon, satirical design concepts and the art of typography

Hi there,

I hope you're feeling good.

I’m currently spending two weeks in Bordeaux, in the south west of France.

I’m renting the flat of a friend who just left for 1 month in Italy. It’s the most beautiful flat I have ever seen. It was entirely renovated and decorated with taste by an interior designer. I feel very comfortable here and at peace to write.

My friend also sent me a list of great restaurants to try in the neighborhood, so my stomach is the happiest.

Last Sunday, I rented a car and drove 1 hour outside of Bordeaux to visit a famous site called La Dune du Pilat. It’s the tallest sand dune in Europe, it measures a bit more than 100 meters. It was so impressive! It’s truly one of the most beautiful places I have been to in France.

In today's edition, we're discussing Shopify’s partnership with Amazon, satirical design concepts and the art of typography.

Let's dive in.

Work

Do you remember these lines?

They were written by Tobi Lütke, CEO of Shopify, in a letter published in March 2018.

In the same letter, Tobi also wrote:

Shopify never frontally positioned itself as a competitor of Amazon. But they’ve explained that they wanted to “arm the rebels”, meaning to give everyone the ability to create their own business.

Last week, the two giants made a step towards each other. They seem to have come to an agreement that they can partner together to reach their own singular goals. And this is a fantastic news for everyone!

The news Shopify just announced is huge: Amazon is releasing an application in Shopify’s app ecosystem that gives merchants, who use Amazon’s fulfillment network, the option to add “Buy with Prime” to their Shopify’s checkout. And it’s all processed by Shopify Payments.

Basically, merchants are now able to give Prime members access to Prime benefits like fast and free delivery, outside of Amazon, for the first time ever.

This is a massive update that probably took years in the making.

I’m looking forward to reading the first merchants’ feedback on it, and seeing this feature being deployed in Europe.

Experience a throwback reading Tobi’s letter from 2018. And learn more about the partnership between Amazon and Shopify by watching Harley Finkelstein’s video announcement.

Inspire

On Twitter, I follow a guy who gives me a daily dose of inspiration and laughter.

His name is Soren Iverson. He specializes in satirical design concepts.

“What the hell is that?”, you may be thinking.

Soren basically invents features that apps we all use could have.

These features are not to be taken too seriously. They just serve as satirical comments on the companies behind those apps, and their users (us).

For each feature he invents, Soren goes the extra mile: he crafts a design of what it would look like, either in the form of an image or a video.

Here are 5 ideas I particularly enjoyed:

1. United’s app option to show the total flight delay time

2. Amazon’s option to deliver my order first

3. Slack’s feature to require a response by a certain time or get fired

4. Google Meet telling you how much time you’ve spent looking at yourself in a meeting

5. Google Calendar’s option to file a Change.org petition to cancel a meeting

Discover more of these satirical design concepts by following Soren Iverson on Twitter.

Explore

In 2017, Netflix launched a series called “Abstract: The Art of Design”.

This series takes us inside the minds of amazingly innovative designers in a variety of disciplines and shows us how design impacts every aspect of life.

“Abstract: The Art of Design” has 2 seasons: it’s 14 episodes of 45min each.

My favorite episode is the one about the American graphic designer Paula Scher.

This documentary is such a marvel. It opened my eyes on something I see everyday but don’t really notice: the art of typography.

Paula shares her vision with us, explains how she thinks and why she makes each design choice regarding typography.

Besides being very instructive, this documentary has a real vibe of its own: it’s peaceful, calming and reassuring.

It invites us to explore our imagination.

Enjoy.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this edition until the end.

I'll talk to you soon.

Take good care of yourself.

Coralie