Kindred Studio - Monthly Roundup

June 2026

A round-up of what I made, watched, read, listened to and noticed this month. (Edit this intro in Mailchimp before sending.)

Watching

How to Lose a Global AI Monopoly in One Afternoon

Patrick Boyle

¿Por qué tenemos 12 notas musicales? | Música y matemáticas

Lemnismath

Widow's Bay EVERY Detail That You MISSED - Episode 1-9

Duriboh

THE SOCIAL RECKONING – Official Teaser Trailer (HD)

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Space Data Centers Are Dumb.

Kyle Hill

Where Hamilton hides its orchestra

Dallas Taylor

this song has no instruments in it

Andy Brewer

Reading

How being weird can save branding in 2026

Creative Boom · Bentzion Goldman

Mother Design's Bentzion Goldman argues identity work has become safe, sanitised and forgettable — and makes the case that embracing the weird is how brands cut through. He traces a line from...

Inside the Future of Brand 2026 report with Motto's co-founders

The Brand Identity

Motto marks its 20th anniversary with the Future of Brand 2026 report, and its co-founders sit down to unpack it. A clear-eyed look at what's actually shifting beneath the surface, and how...

Can We Teach Graphic Design History Without the Cult of Hero Worship?

AIGA Eye on Design · Aggie Toppins

A thought experiment from Aggie Toppins: what would happen if we taught graphic design history without its cast of heroes and masterpieces? An argument for foregrounding the social forces — labour, technology,...

The top 15 illustrators of 2026, as chosen by the community

Creative Boom · Tom May

Creative Boom's annual community survey surfaces the 15 illustrators winning the most admiration from working creatives in 2026. The throughline is a personal point of view and a handmade quality built over...

10 trends that creatives are so over in 2026

Creative Boom · Tom May

Creatives surveyed by Creative Boom name the ten visual trends they're tired of, from AI slop to gratuitous gradients and glassmorphism. The shared complaint: technique deployed without intention or a point of...

Seven highlights from Osaka Art and Design 2026

Dezeen

Osaka Art and Design returns for a fourth edition, and Dezeen rounds up seven highlights — including Yuichi Hirako's giant wooden figure crowned with a tree and antlers, installed inside the Hankyu...

Koto revives an 80-year-old wordmark to rebrand Norton Museum of Art

It's Nice That · Olivia Hingley

Koto digs into the Norton Museum's archive to revive an 80-year-old wordmark and seal, redrawn with a 40-degree tilt that runs through the rest of the identity. Strategy director Katie Hughes argues...

Can design help FIFA stage its own comeback?

Creative Review · Megan Williams

Creative Review asks four brand and design experts whether design alone can drag FIFA out of its post-Qatar reckoning. The 2026 identity — 48 teams, three host countries, a customisable city-by-city system...

Enter the Bucketverse: KFC's finger-licking rebrand turns an icon into an entire world

It's Nice That · Ayla Angelos

JKR delivers KFC's first 360-degree rebrand in decades: a 3D logo, two custom typefaces with Studio Drama (Kentucky Fried Serif and Sans), a redrawn Colonel, new restaurant interiors and a category shift...

Why design studio Oneplus treats branding like cultural excavation, not invention

It's Nice That · Ellis Tree

Milan-based studio Oneplus treats every project as excavation rather than invention, digging into vintage references and reconfiguring them into sleek, modern identities for bars, books and album sleeves. Founded in 2023 by...

Thirteen unmissable exhibitions during 3 Days of Design

Dezeen · Cajsa Carlson

Dezeen rounds up 13 must-see shows for Copenhagen's 3 Days of Design (10–12 June), with this year's theme 'Make This Moment Matter'. Highlights include Tom Dixon taking over the Egmont multi-storey car...