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wdwmarveldisney · 4 years ago

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Secret Valentines

Summary: Julie and Luke talk over their feelings.

Julie x Luke

A/N: Oka so this is apart of a Secret Valentine and was written for @captain--sif . It is set after season 1 with the idea that boys are alive but can can still teleport and stuff so yeah. Kinda short. Hope you like it.

It wasn't like he was a dead anymore. Well, not completely. He still had the power for that weird teleportation skill that they could do and he could walk through walls and objects if he wanted to. But he was also alive in the sense that everyone could see him all the time and didn't just pass through people. So technically, if Julie had a crush on this dead alive guy then it wasn't completely impossible. Especially if he liked her back. She wasn't blind or oblivious. It was obvious but even so she never acted on the knowledge. Because he was a ghost. But not really. And every time she thought it over, the argument would begin anew, starting the endless cycle until she had to focus on song writing or band practice or her science homework. God she hated science.

But now she was getting distracted. Why, the one time she wanted to focus on it, couldn't she? Julie had promised herself and Alex and Reggie and Flynn and basically anyone who asked about her and Luke to figure out what she was going to do. It's not exactly her waiting for him to make the first move or maybe it is, she doesn't know yet. If she made the first move then at least it would actually be done. She was pretty sure that Luke would never act on feelings first, actually she was pretty sure he was the only one who didn't know that he had feelings for her. Or maybe he did.

It was always hard to tell with Luke. He always acted the same around everyone. But she noticed the small pouts he got when she mentioned Nick or how he looked to her a lot when Alex would talk about spending time with Willie or really any type of relationship talk. Whether that was subconscious or he knew exactly what he was doing Julie would probably never know but she didn't need to. She'd just talk to him, admit her feelings or something. Or drop hints. No that would take to long because he wasn't the best at picking them up, she had learnt that over the past week or so. She just had to tell him. Just had to go down to the garage and tell him. Just had to stop doodling on her microphone and get up and tell him.

Okay, obviously that pep talk wasn't working as she still sat on her bed, twirling the pencil in her hand as she looked over the microphone. Placing both down on the drawers at the side of her bed and instead picking up her phone she shot a quick text to Flynn saying that she needed to talk and not a second later, a picture of the two of them pulling stupid faces flashed across the screen. Julie was quick to accept the call, a small sigh leaving her lips as she thought everything over, again. "Hey," her voice wasn't exactly the definition of upbeat, more of a upset confused mumble. "Um hello. What's up?" Julie could tell Flynn was confused, she would be if the roles were reversed and so, with a heavy sigh, she explained her dilemma as she picked at her bed sheets.

Alex and Reggie had come to the decision that they should talk to Luke. He was by the piano, writing in his song journal but every few minutes, he would glance to the doors. The others sat on the sofa, watching him closely and having hushed conversations- more like arguments- when Luke wasn't paying attention. After a while, Alex shoved Reggie forward, the boy stumbling and therefore, grabbing Luke's attention. He glanced worriedly to Alex over his shoulder who simply gestured for him to talk. Reggie looked back to Luke as the boy raised an eyebrow at his two best friends and after a second of awkward silence, Reggie blurted out the question, "Do you like Julie?" Luke's head gazed snapped to the two instead of staring to the door, which he had taken to doing during the silence. "What?" Reggie and Alex looked to each other, nervousness being the main thing that stood out in their eyes. "It's just, you're different around her," The fake, confused expression that took over Luke's face was enough for the boys to relax slightly though not enough. Luke was a terrible liar when it came to his two best friends, they could see right through any facade he put up.

"So you do?" Alex finally stood up, moving to stand next to Luke as Reggie copied. The brunette glanced between his two friends before shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, a sigh escaping his lips, "I mean maybe. But she likes Nick, did you see the flowers the other day?" Alex scoffed, hitting Luke's shoulder as he spoke, a look of disbelief adorning his features, "You're kidding, right? Have you seen the way she looks at you and not just on stage because that is a whole other conversation that we've already had," realizing he was getting sidetracked, he shook his head and went back to the point of his little speech, "Anyways, what I'm saying is that she likes you, you like her, get together. It's really simple," He glanced at his two best friends who were hiding their own little grins at his words, sharing a look. "And, uh, how are you and Willie?" Reggie grin had fully taken over his lips, the two brunettes both laughing at the blush making its way up his neck. "Shut up,"

"Okay, so, how do I do that? Ask her out?" Luke leaned on the piano, looking over his shoulders at his band mates but before anything else was said, the door to the garage opened and in stepped Julie. All three boys stood up tall, like they were in trouble or something, and Julie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, hand going to her hip. "What are you doing?" Reggie and Luke look to each other and then to Alex and the blonde took it as his cue to speak, "Um, what are you doing?" Julie relaxed slightly but became more fidgety as she refused to look the three boys in the eye. She shrugged as the boys nervously looked to each other, worried about how she was acting. "Could I talk to Luke?" Alex grabbed Reggie's shoulder, since the boy seemed too happy to realize he should leave, and blipped the two out of the room but just by the door so they could listen in. "Um, hey," Julie looked up to him, fingers tugging at the sleeves of jumper and resisting the urge to bring the fabric up to her lips. "Hi. I wanted to ask you something,"

"Yeah?"

"I've talked to Flynn about it, which is why I'm late, but, um, I've been thinking a lot about this and I've decided that I'm not going to wait for you to do it because that's completely stereotypical-" Luke's breathy laugh made her look up at him and stop her rambling to focus back to what she was going to do, "Right, um," she felt her cheeks heat up as she stumbled over her words. "I just wanted to see if, maybe, at some point you'd wanna hang out? Just us two? In a non-band way?" A smile and blush made its way to Luke's face, the same slowly happening to Julie. He nodded, ignoring the jumping silhouettes of Alex and Reggie outside. "Great, okay. I don't know what to do now but I guess we should say something so how about tomorrow?"

"At five. We can go to that cafe I wanted to try?"

#julie x luke #secret valentine #short imagine #more of a drabble really

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vernonfielding · 5 years ago

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Life Writes Its Own Stories

Chapter 12. (AO3.)

Leo James looked like hell, faced bruised all over, eyes bloodshot and swollen. The Narcan may have saved him from an overdose death, but Jake thought it was going to take a while to recover from what must have been a brutal assault.

He made Jake and Rosa close his hospital room door before he would talk. His voice was thin and rough, like he’d been strangled on top of everything else.

A cop is running Jazzy Pants, Leo told them. No, he didn’t know the cop’s name. The cop has a few mid-level street dealers on the front lines doing the actual dirty work. He promised to protect them if things turn, but one of them got freaked and snitched to Leo. Leo’s been trying to leak to Jake, but there’s been an ugly vibe on the streets, and he was nervous. He never saw the guys who took him down – it happened fast, and after they’d beat him they’d dosed him with the Jazzy Pants and left him for dead.

“Been a long time since I was this scared,” Leo said.

“Looks like you were smart to be scared,” Rosa said.

Leo nodded, and Jake patted him vaguely on the arm. What Leo had given them was huge, but Jake had no idea what to do with it, where to even begin investigating one of their own on so little information.

“We’ve got an officer watching your room. Try to get some rest.” Jake turned to leave, but Leo grabbed for him.

“Not done yet, Peralta,” he said. Leo nodded toward a chair near the door, where a stack of clothes was neatly folded. “The jacket on top. Inner pocket.”

Jake raised an eyebrow at Rosa, who shrugged. He picked up the jacket and unzipped the pocket. Inside was a Ninja Turtle figurine (Donatello, not his personal favorite). Jake held it up.

“It’s a thumbdrive,” Leo said. ��Don’t know what’s on it – didn’t want to look – but it came from the guy who tipped me off. He’s dead, by the way.”

Jake closed his fist around the Ninja Turtle. “Get some sleep, Leo.”

He and Rosa swapped theories on the drive back to the precinct. They agreed that it was possible the whole thing was a lie – Jake trusted his own CI, but Leo’s information was secondhand. A story about an NYPD cop running a drug ring sounded insanely far-fetched, the stuff of urban legends. Taking bribes, sure. Shaving a little off the top of a bag of heroin, yeah, it happened. Every now and then entire kilos of cocaine went missing. But running an entire operation was another matter entirely. Rosa hypothesized it could be a former cop, maybe someone who’d worked undercover in drug enforcement. They didn’t know for sure it was even someone in the NYPD, she pointed out.

Jake didn’t say it, but he was praying that Manny wasn’t involved. It was unsettling that they’d been told the Seven-Eight had a task force. Depending on what was on the thumbdrive, that precinct was probably where they’d have to begin their search for a dirty cop.

Back at the Nine-Nine, Jake glanced at Pembroke’s office to confirm he was still out and wouldn’t be trying to Vulture this investigation away from them. His door was closed and the lights were off. Jake inserted the thumbdrive into his computer; there was only one file, and he clicked it open.

“It’s a ledger,” Rosa said. She was leaning over his shoulder, one hand planted on his desk.

Jake scrolled through the entries – it looked like about eight months of data, starting the previous May. He pointed a finger at one of the rows. “We’ve got dates, times, addresses – looks like they were getting drops two or three times a week.”

“So that’s-” Rosa closed her eyes, lips twitching. “About 80 entries. At least.”

Jake stared at her. “How do you do that?”

“Not that hard, man.” Rosa tapped the screen. “Print this out.”

They set up shop in the briefing room, where they could use the map to pin the locations in the ledger and spread out their paperwork. Right away they figured out there were four main drops, all warehouses in or near Brownsville. They each took two addresses and got to work.

Tracking addresses to possible suspects was tedious work. Most of them led back to holding companies or developers that almost certainly had nothing to do with the drug ring – they were just unlucky enough to own under-utilized property that the dealers were basically squatting out of. One of Rosa’s warehouses turned out to have ties to a known drug cartel, which they filed away for further investigation down the line.

After a couple of hours Jake brought them bags of chips and pretzels from the break room, plus cups of disgusting vending machine mochas because the kitchen coffeemaker was broken again. An hour after that, he gave up on his warehouses and turned back to the ledger.

There were a few stray addresses they had pinned to the map but hadn’t researched yet, so he sighed and began looking them up. Most of them were small units – loft apartments, run-down artist studios – in the same neighborhood as the warehouses. One was a private storage company.

And then there was an outlier: A penthouse property in Dumbo, overlooking the river. It probably had really killer views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline.

The owner was an LLC, and the owner of the LLC was a man whose name tickled at the back of Jake’s brain – he was sure he’d seen it before but couldn’t place it. He googled the name but still nothing clicked, and then he did an image search. He glanced over the first row of photos, and sucked in a sharp breath.

“What?” Rosa looked up from her laptop.

Jake swallowed thickly, letting the pieces slot into place. “Remember the missing Rat-Dog case, a couple months ago?”

Rosa’s brows furrowed, but she nodded. “Yeah, we chased it down for the Vulture’s frat buddy.”

“Well, frat bro owns one of the drops on the ledger.” Jake spun his laptop toward Rosa and pointed to a photo of the man, his arm slung over Pembroke’s shoulders. “I think we found our cop.”

Rosa gaped at the photo for a second, then turned and locked eyes with Jake. A spark of understanding passed between them.

Jake slammed shut his laptop. Rosa began gathering up the stacks of papers they’d strewn about and Jake pulled pins out of the map. They bolted out of the briefing room, both looking toward Pembroke’s still-dark office. Jake checked the time on his phone – it was almost 8 p.m.

“What do we do?” he hissed to Rosa.

“We get out of here,” Rosa said. “Shaw’s?”

It was probably too close, but they needed to get out of the precinct now and Jake couldn’t think of anywhere else safe. He nodded and led the way.

+++

Amy glared at her notepad and the to-do list she’d been crafting for the past hour and a half. Usually lists were so soothing, sort of her go-to for coming down after a hard day, but even the perfectly shaped bullet points and the evenly spaced title letters weren’t helping her relax now. She tapped her favorite list-making pen (it was different from her note-taking pen and her just-jotting-down-thoughts pen and her supposed-to-be-taking-notes-but-actually-just-doodling pen for Terry’s monthly metro staff meetings) on her notebook and racked her brain for more things to put on her list.

She started to write “grocery shopping” – got so far as g-r-o – and then she tried to remember if she had orange soda at home and then she sighed and dropped her pen. That was the problem. Everything on her list came back to Jake.

She knew she should go home already. It was after 8, and Terry and Holt and most of the other reporters were gone; Hitchcock was still at his desk, presumably watching a live feed of a development board meeting, but his eyes had been closed for hours. As lonely as it felt here, Amy dreaded the idea of returning to her dark and empty apartment and not even having work to distract her. Not that work was helping much now.

Her email pinged, and Amy looked up hopefully – maybe someone had shot the mayor or a fire had broken out in a high-rise. But it was just Charles again.

The subject line said: “Just to confirm, neither you nor Jake said the words ‘break up.’” There was no text in the body of the email.

Amy deleted the email and looked up from her desk. Charles was watching her from his spot on the copy desk. She slid a finger slowly across her neck. He gave her an overly dramatic shrug and turned back to his computer.

Charles had figured out after witnessing several hushed conversations between Amy and Gina that something had gone down with Jake. Amy had given him the extremely condensed version of the story – that Jake was mad about Gina’s column and blaming Amy for it – and Charles had been instantly devastated. But he’d rallied an hour later and started pestering her for details. A little after noon, he’d latched onto the fact that they weren’t technically broken up because neither of them had said they were broken up.

At first Amy had found that thought somewhat comforting – it was true, after all – but eight hours later she was fed up. And it wasn’t just Charles she was fed up with. She’d realized, at some point late in the day, that her feelings about what had happened with Jake went beyond just hurt. She was angry with him. Even furious. He’d either never trusted her at all, or his faith had been so fragile, so superficial, that it couldn’t pass even the most obvious of tests.

That thought was heartbreaking and infuriariating and flat-out depressing, all at once.

Her email alert sounded again and Amy groaned and thought about marching straight to Charles’ desk and ordering him to just leave it. But when she looked at her inbox, the email wasn’t from him. And the subject line made her breath catch: “Jake Peralta.”

Amy glanced at the sender but she didn’t recognize the address: b00bman-at-hotmail. “Gross,” Amy muttered. She warily clicked it open.

“Dear Amy Santiago. Peralta has been selling the street drug Jazzy Pants. I HAVE PROOF. He also takes bribes and thinks women shouldn’t be in the NYPD. He also hates puppies AND kittens. ASK ANYONE. I can give you details.”

The email wasn’t signed, and it ended with an address and a time to meet later that night. Amy’s hands were shaking when she went to delete the email, just on reflex. Then she thought better of it and printed it out instead. She ran to the printer so no one else could grab it before her and read it again, her heart racing. When Charles popped up at her shoulder she actually yelped.

“What’s wrong?” he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I saw you run over here. What is that?”

“Nothing.” Amy held the printout to her chest so he couldn’t read it. “I’ve got to go.”

She hurried back to her desk and shut down her laptop, and slung her purse over her shoulder. She was just at the door when it occurred to her that she had no idea what her next move was. She needed to talk to Jake, but she was afraid if she called or texted he’d ignore her, or tell her to stay away.

“Charles?” She approached his desk with caution. “Do you happen to know where Jake is right now?”

“Oh, thank god,” Charles said, clapping his hands in delight. “I’ve actually been texting with him all day and right now he’s at Shaw’s with Rosa, and he said I definitely shouldn’t-”

But Amy was already headed back to the door. She heard him calling after her, “Yes! Go get him! Love finds a way!”

She paused just outside, feeling weirdly vulnerable, like someone was watching her. She realized she’d left her jacket inside, but she wasn’t going back for it – she already felt like she was running out of time.

Her hands were still unsteady as she called for an Uber. While she waited for the car, she peeked at the email again. She couldn’t explain why the note had triggered such an urgent, demanding sense of apprehension. There was something in the tone of it, a familiarity, that set her teeth on edge. She didn’t think it was just that Jake was the subject, though surely that was the most upsetting part.

Amy studied the email address again, and frowned. Gina’s source had emailed too. It wasn’t unusual to get tips via email, of course, but Amy had a strange feeling. She texted Gina to ask what her source’s email address was. She wasn’t expecting an answer, actually – reporters were generally very protective of anonymous sources, and rightfully so – but they’d reached a sort of truce today, and Amy hoped Gina might feel like doing her a favor.

Her heart stuttered when her cell phone buzzed in her hands. Amy looked at the screen: “b00bman-at-hotmail.” It was followed by a vomit emoji.

Amy’s car pulled up, and she yanked the door open and jumped inside. “As fast as you can,” she told the driver. He rolled his eyes at her in the rearview mirror, but the tires squealed when he took off.

+++

Jake and Rosa were at their same table at the back of Shaw’s, though with pints instead of Shirley Temples (and they’d both done a shot of whiskey, because “what the fuck, the Vulture is a drug runner now?” Rosa had said).

They’d done a bit more googling on their phones on Pembroke’s frat buddy. It wasn’t clear how friendly they were, and the photo of them was about a decade old, but the fact that Pembroke had them running cases for the guy as recently as August was pretty damning. It didn’t prove that the Vulture was associated with, much less running, the Jazzy Pants operation, but Jake knew they had enough leads to launch an investigation.

The question was what to do now.

“Go to Wuntch?” Rosa said. She was tilted back in her chair, looking cool and casual, but Jake saw the way her eyes kept darting to the front door and the exits. Shaw’s was pretty empty, which was good and bad – there weren’t any other cops around to spy on them, but they also were pretty exposed, even in the dimly lit back end of the bar.

Jake thought over Rosa’s suggestion and shook his head. “Wuntch is going to want more evidence. And she may not like Pembroke much right now, but she could still ask him about it and tip our hand. If he’s already twitchy enough to go after at least one of my CIs, no telling what he’ll do if he knows we’re onto him.”

Rosa blew her hair out of her face in a huff of frustration, but she didn’t argue with him. Jake was fidgeting with the Ninja Turtle thumbdrive, twirling it between fingers, and Rosa yanked it away and stuffed it in a jacket pocket. She shot him a glare that he read as “stop playing with the evidence, idiot.”

Jake said, “I could talk to Leo again. He might have a name he for us, maybe one of the dealers working with Pembroke.”

“Dude’s pretty scared,” Rosa said. “Even if he has a name – and that’s a big if – you think he’s going to give it up?”

“No.” Jake closed his eyes and tugged at his hair with both hands. “This is crazy. Is there seriously no one we can trust?”

“Shit.” Rosa’s chair dropped to the floor with a thud.

Jake looked up, alarmed. “What? Is he here?”

Rosa jerked her chin toward the front door. Jake spun in his chair, and it was like everything around him stopped for a moment, and just faded away. All he saw was her.

Amy’s hair was down, framing her face in dark waves, and her eyes glittered as she peered all around the room. She was biting her lip, and twisting her hands together in a nervous way. When her eyes landed on him, her face lit up for a second. And just as quickly the light was gone, replaced by a determination he recognized from their nights working together and something less familiar, a brutal sort of stoicism. His heart fluttered in his chest as she approached their table.

“Jake.” Her voice was flat, and she projected a bit so she could be heard over the music.

Jake wasn’t sure what to say (or do) – too many competing thoughts were bouncing around his head suddenly. He wanted to apologize and he wanted to tell her he still wasn’t sure. He wanted to kiss her and he wanted to send her away and he wanted to take her hand and run with her, he didn’t even care where.

Rosa cleared her throat. “I’m going to- leave.”

Amy stepped back to give Rosa room to squeeze past the table, then took her seat. She leaned forward, hands clasped together again, tightly this time so she couldn’t fidget.

“What are you doing here?” Jake said, bending toward her so he could keep his voice low.

Amy started at that, and a flash of anger creased her brow. “I thought you were done hiding,” she said, the words short and sharp.

“Amy-”

She held up a hand. “Never mind, obviously that doesn’t matter anymore. It’s not why I’m here anyway.” She pulled her purse into her lap and took out a slip of paper, which she read over first, then handed to him.

Jake squinted at the printed text in the dim light. It was an email – his name was in the subject line. As he read, he felt a hard knot form in his stomach. When he was done, he quickly folded the paper in half and then half again. He looked around the room, saw Rosa at one end of the bar and caught her eye, flagging her back to them.

“Do you know who sent it?” Jake said to Amy.

“No, but-”

“Read this,” Jake said, passing the note to Rosa as she walked up. Rosa pulled over a chair from a nearby table and straddled it, then read.

“What the hell.”

“He’s trying to pin it on me,” Jake said.

Rosa closed her eyes, crumpling the note in her fist.

“Who’s trying to pin what on you?” Amy said, looking furiously between them.

“The Vulture,” Jake said, under his breath. “Ames, I can’t explain it now, but this is bad. We need to get you out of here.”

“I don’t understand,” Amy said. “What’s he trying to pin on you?”

Jake glanced quickly around the room again before turning back to Amy. “It’s about Jazzy Pants, and I mean it, I can’t tell you everything right now. But another one of my CIs got hit today, and if he’s sending messages to you now-” He paused, because spelling it all out made it much more terrifying.

Jake felt for his gun at his side. Rosa saw him, and quickly did the same. They locked eyes and nodded.

“Jake, wait,” Amy said, sounding breathless, “what about you?”

“Rosa and I can take care of ourselves. We need to get you somewhere safe – maybe Gina, or Charles.”

“Charles is closer,” Rosa said.

“And he’s been texting me all day, so we know he’s around.” Jake stood up, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair and shrugging it on.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Amy said, but she stood up too, and let herself be hustled toward the front of the bar.

“We should split up,” Jake said, when they reached the door.

Rosa nodded. “My bike’s out back. Where do you want to meet?”

Jake thought it over but his mind was blank – he wouldn’t be able to think clearly until he got Amy settled. “I’ll text you, half an hour.”

Rosa took off for the back door. Jake set a hand on Amy’s lower back, but he pushed ahead of her, and opened the front door slowly so he could make sure there was no one outside, waiting for them. It was dark and deserted. Jake pulled out his phone to call them an Uber, ushering Amy along.

He said, “I’m sorry you got dragged in-”

A solid weight tackled Jake from behind. His phone flew out of his hand and he heard Amy scream. Jake thrust an elbow back, hard, and heard a satisfying grunt as he connected. He reached for his gun, and then there was a sharp, nauseating pain in his shoulder, radiating all the way down his arm. Jake fell to one knee and he was tackled again, the weight crashing into his back and knocking the wind out of him. Jake tried to kick out but he was pinned, and he couldn’t catch his breath, and then hands were pulling his arms behind his back and binding his wrists, and he groaned in pain. He turned his head, tried to find Amy, and something dark fell over his eyes and he couldn’t see a thing.

He was dragged up to his feet and tugged forward a few stumbling steps, only to be thrown again a moment later, landing hard on his shoulder. He rolled onto his back and heard doors slamming shut, felt the jerk of a vehicle taking off. Someone yanked him up so he was sitting.

He called out, “Amy!”

“I’m here!”

The relief was immediate, and followed just as quickly by terror. At least they were together, and alive. For the moment.

Jake moved his head, tried to see anything through the black veil over his eyes. “Are you okay?”

A fist punched into his stomach and Jake grunted, folding over himself. He felt the unmistakable press of a gun into the base of his skull.

Someone leaned in close to him, breath hot on the side of his face. “No more talking.”

CHAPTER 13

#b99 fic #peraltiago #jake and amy au #newspaper au #life writes its own stories

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dawnajaynes32 · 7 years ago

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2018 Design Trends: Predications from Top Creatives

Pulling these prediction pieces together every year gets more and more dizzying each time. In 2015, creatives were predicting the rise of animation and motion graphics. In 2016, we expected greater digital experiences and the solidifying of mobile-first technology. And now, in 2017, our focus turns greatly to augmented and virtual reality. Those little handheld computers we carry with us at all times are about to become even more important to designers everywhere.

Here are just some of the possible 2018 design trends we’ll be seeing after we ring in the New Year!

Augmented and Virtual Reality

“Augmented Reality (AR) came back big this year and will continue to grow as one of the major trends in 2018. The comeback didn’t happen just because of all the hype related to Apple introducing it’s own framework ARkit to create AR experiences: With over two billion people currently using some kind of smartphone, AR growth came as a natural extension to 2D content we interact with on our screens.

“Apple’s ARkit definitely opens doors for app developers to create AR content faster and submit it into its store. At this point, it’s still the Wild West when it comes to quality AR content – and Apple is definitely picky when it comes to what type of AR app they want to see in its store. Functionality is definitely the key to success when it comes to creating a potentially popular AR app. It’s not just about one 3D model you can interact with on the screen, it’s more about how you can change this 3D model, apply different textures to it in real time, and so on.

“The retail industry will definitely be a big consumer of AR, especially on the B2B level. Really soon we will see planners and architects picking up materials for their next project by pointing their phones on the floors (for example) and seeing how applying different types of hardwood or carpeting on it reflects on their screens. From furniture layout to games to education and entertainment, AR will play a major role in 2018 and beyond.”

—Denis Krylov, Co-Founder and Partner, Transparent House

vimeo

“The period ahead is going to require a different type of sensitivity to users that goes beyond traditional UX and gets worked out on graffles with imaginary users behind digital surfaces. This is because neural networks are allowing computers to hear and see humans and react in more human ways. Companies like Google are turning AI into a commodity that can be integrated into a huge range of products that will quickly bring the intelligence into homes, cars and workspaces. Headphones will bring its far-reaching possibilities into the spaces that remain. Turning this technology into something legitimately helpful will require designers to interview, roleplay and research other people with specific tasks like never before. It’s going to require a whole new sensitivity.”

—David Lehman, Design Director, HUSH

“Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are coming to a museum near you! Used mostly for gaming and watching videos the last few years – and even as a design tool in the architecture and construction industry – museums are discovering how to use VR and AR to share educational content, tell stories, and give visitors a unique experience. Walk the floor of any museum conference expo and you’ll see vendors promoting VR and AR hardware, software, and content. The keynote speaker at the 2017 Association of Science and Technology conference was Brendan Iribe, co-founder of Oculus. We just completed a 10-person VR experience at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Illinois, and visitors absolutely love it. Exhibit designers, and other creative professionals, will continue to explore ways for VR and AR to enhance storytelling.”

—Kevin Snow, Creative Director, Luci Creative

“Virtual Reality (VR) has been a big trend in the past years and is now established really well in medical, real estate and some parts of the entertainment industries. The challenge of VR remains that it requires additional hardware. With AR you can interact with content by simply using your phone screen.”

—Denis Krylov, Co-Founder and Partner, Transparent House

“The future demands multi-layered experts, individuals who can speak multiple technical languages and will use them to extend the penetration of the disruptive technologies that have defined so much of the past decade. Understanding websites alone or apps alone will not enable us to design meaningful interaction in the era of AI. The multi-touch interface will be replaced by voice and image even faster than touchscreens replaced the mouse and keyboard. Building the world that this new method of interaction will enable will demand that we broaden the horizon of imagined user experience and begin to understand what this foundational level of interaction will enable and the pitfalls that should be avoided. Attention spans are quickly reaching zero. People want the right information immediately and with minimal effort. Unlike touch interfaces, the world of AI is more dependent upon computational horsepower than slick, new, user-owned hardware. This means that designers will need to have a very functional understanding of the limitations of developing technology to make sure they design solutions that don’t invite unreasonable expectation. The boundary between functional AI and Star Trek AI is going to be murky for the next few years, during which time we can expect all sorts of awkward situations with people talking to machines that either don’t hear them or don’t understand their language.”

—David Lehman, Design Director, HUSH

“The biggest trend I see is bridging the gap between physical (analog/disconnected) and digital (connected).

“Of course, this is all driven by the internet, software and the next tech revolution, AI/AR. Making the inanimate – animated and the dumb – smart.

“But I actually see it as a two-way street. The physical experience is getting more digital and connected. But the digital experience is actually is taking on more physical qualities. What I mean by that is we are creating more immersive, human-centric and life-like experiences in digital world. One of the best examples of that this year was what Google did to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hip-Hop. The Google Doodle takeovers have been around for a while but this was on another level. They brought in innovative tech and created an immersive, lifelike experience that brought some “pixels” to life and and had them take on a whole new meaning. The experience transcended the Google brand and medium (Doodle) as evidenced by the sheer joy (and buzz) this created for people worldwide.”

—Ivan Entchevitch, Creative Director, SET

Branding + Business

“One 2017 trend that I very much hope will continue, is that clients came to us not simply to execute design, but to help concept the creative ideas from ground zero. We’ve been tasked with writing scripts and helping to develop key communication points, and most projects were totally turnkey. Our Cutters Studios family was vital to the success of much of our work this year because we were able to do everything from design to production and post under the same virtual roof. Our take on creative is executionally agnostic, and we found that our clients were very open to our unique way of approaching creative; many chose us specifically based upon our unique point of view. Personally, I love that the lines of what we are known for and what we are commissioned for keep getting blurred. Gone are the days of straight-up design and motion graphics execution. Moving forward into 2018, I hope that this trend towards more inclusive collaboration with our creative partners continues to grow with new and interesting opportunities.”

—Jason Cook, Creative Director, Flavor

vimeo

“Two thousand eighteen will be the year that all brands become lifestyle brands. If KFC can get in on the enamel pin and pillow case game, anyone can make a go of it. And they should. Pushing your brand into every corner of your customer’s life is presumptuous and obtrusive. But if you can make yourself so integral (or maybe even just fun or easy), they might invite you along for the ride. I don’t need a Nutella sleeping bag, but do I want one? Maybe

“Some brands with enough existing clout might try to go it alone like KFC. But the really savvy ones, the ones that need it the most, will forge smart partnerships with similarly-minded companies, just like Coors Banquet and Brixton did this year.

“Then again, 2018 might yield more cross-archetype collabs like Star Wars and rag + bone, allowing folks to revel in the infinitesimally small cross-section of their own personal Venn diagram. These mash-ups are fun, as they expose two extremely niche, incredibly passionate, nearly opposite fanbases to one another just to see what happens.

“Expect the unexpected. It’s gonna be another wild year.”

—Kyle Kastranec, Associate Creative Director, Ologie

“As consumers become ever more accustomed to comparing prices, exploring options and ultimately making purchases online, real world retail environments will continue to be rethought and redesigned. Rather than simply facilitating transactions, brands will need to design their brick and mortar locations to let customers experience not only their products and services, but the essence of what makes their brand differentiated from the competition. Today, this often manifests into hands-on, digitally-led experiences that guide the consumer into the purchase funnel.”

—Dan Carter, Creative Director of North America, SET Live

“Expectations will rise for brands to use design to push beyond the expected and challenge the industries that they are in by pulling influence from emergent cultural, behavioral, and graphic trends outside of their category and using them to craft bold design statements that truly differentiate and tell a story. Whether it’s embracing human imperfection, custom crafted type, unexpected color palettes, or social media-influenced layouts, designers will be expected to think holistically, strategically, and find new ways to differentiate. Companies like Chobani have brought in house high-level talent to redesign their brand from the inside-out, which resulted in designs that at first glance may appear inappropriate for their category but is actually an immersive look into the brand, the product, and its audience. It’s embracing heritage and redefining the future, while also being very human and showing more than just products.”

—Karen Yau, Design Director, Brand Union

“People have grown weary of BS. Design that’s born from authenticity will cut through the over-thought clutter and resonate with consumers. Successful brands will continue to distill and refine their graphic language using it to create genuine experiences and honest social media, achieving clarity with minimal content.”

—Michael Nielsen, Senior Designer, Archrival

“Voice is quickly becoming the new interface for brand.

“Brands need to differentiate themselves like never before and one of the best ways for them to do this is through their brand voice. Brand voice is what makes customers feel as though they’re talking to a person vs. a machine, which is how you build trust and connections. Consider the differences between speaking to Alexa vs. Amazon.

“There are a few core principles to getting your brand voice right: simplifying messaging, empathizing with your customers, showing candor even when things aren’t going to plan, and embracing personality. The brands who have the courage to commit to these principles are the ones who will win the trust and attention of their customers in 2018.”

—Connie Birdsall, Creative Director, Lippincott

Animation & Motion Graphics

“2017 was an exciting and evolutionary year for us in a lot of ways, where the project opportunities challenged us and spanned across every aesthetic approach you can imagine… and some that defy description. Still, there is something awesome about knowing that animation and illustration remain at the forefront of innovative storytelling from the perspectives of many brand and agency executives. Take our project with Pereira & O’Dell for Timberland as one example. When you think about the unique brand positioning of Timberland, and apply a creative idea where hip-hop legend Nas takes on the role of spokesperson… the possibilities became endless. We may be biased (okay, we’re totally biased), but the approach from Pereira & O’Dell seems to be the best of the best. Collectively, we found the right way to tell the right stories, and they invited us to break new ground in creative, animated storytelling. Better yet, the work has struck all the right chords with the media, Nas’ own massive fan-base, and the target audiences for Timberland and Footlocker.

“This campaign is called “The Legend Continues with Nas,” and seeing how far the animated content has traveled through earned media, owned marketing channels, key influencers, across social media, in-store and even in massive and “out of home” executions, it seems safe to say that the overall effort is elevating the legends of everyone involved to higher levels. To us, this means that story-driven animations will continue to impress across platforms and mediums, breaking through on the snackable social outlets and allowing bigger, sophisticated brands to engage in more clever ways with their ever-younger audiences.”

—William Campbell and Will Johnson, Co-Founders and Co-Directors, Gentleman Scholar

Digital vs. Physical Experience

“In 2018 we’ll continue to see a growing trend of creating “Instagrammable moments” in museums, concert and sport venues, and hotels and restaurants. Since nearly everyone is now a real-time smartphone socializer, brands and cultural institutions are picking up on the lure toward photo ops, and how they can provide free mass-marketing. Popular attractions like LA’s Happy Place and the Ice Cream Museum – along with scores of new museum exhibits – are pulling in visitors eager to have experiences and share them online. Instagram and Snapchat aren’t creating smartphone zombies – they’re pushing people out into the world. With museums, we believe that there are ways to improve visitor experiences, offer learning opportunities and educational programming, and increase attendance through well designed photo ops.”

—AJ Goehle, Principal, Luci Creative

Numbers In Nature Exhibit Exhibit @ the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago

“Changing user experiences based on their behavior has always been the north star, but personalization also includes designing for our clients. We’ve pushed and will continue to push building sites, apps, and interactive experiences that feel unique to them and their brand. Custom photography, personal voice and tone, and interface design all need to reflect our client, not just the predefined standards of designing for web.”

—Joe Gray, Associate Creative Director, The1stMovement

“But another trend we hope to see in 2018 is as old as retail itself: remembering that well-designed brand experiences means having well trained, motivated and engaging employees. These people remain the best and most important part of any brand engagement: a good experience will dramatically raise the likelihood of a sale, whereas a rude or negative interaction will likely turn the consumer off your brand for good. Brands like Nike really understand this balance, keeping staff engaged, motivated and invested in making the consumer experience as exciting as possible, augmented by excellently designed (and regularly updated) digital and physical touch points that facilitate positive interactions and ultimately drive sales.”

—Dan Carter, Creative Director of North America, SET Live

“As larger amounts of content are absorbed online, I think we’re going to see more and more of a push toward linear experiences. The journey itself may be selected by the user, but storytelling within is already making a comeback. I think we’ll see more of this. To make a callback to Rich Animations, I think those will be the approaches we use to tell those more linear, narrative stories.”

—Joe Gray, Associate Creative Director, The1stMovement

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