Working With "Vibes"

The business world has changed again. ChatGPT has released a new model that creates images, can get the text right (the old roadblock), and can make any image in a matter of minutes. People are using it to create fun photos of their friends/family, to create advertisements, and (soon), building entire business around just this.

But to make more sense of this, let’s clarify what we mean by “vibe” work, and why it’s the future.

I’m pumped, and I hope you are too.

Let’s get into it.

Vibes…what?

If you’re like me, the concept of “vibes” has been hard to pin down. What do people mean when they’re talking about “vibe coding,” or “vibe marketing?” What do they even mean by “vibes” in the first place?

Vibes are like the overall world you’re creating. It’s about the energy, that feeling you get that’s hard to explain when you see something that just makes sense (to you).

It’s made by the smashing together of multiple subtle factors that are individually hard to isolate but collectively create a distinctive feeling or experience. It’s how:

• A photo filter ads grain that makes it look like it’s from the 70s.

• A certain song makes a space feel calm and soothing.

• How white walls, tables, and people in lab coats make one space feel like a lab.

• But how concrete walls and iron make it feel like a prison (or a trendy store in a big city).

Per that last point, vibes are about context. The dark, luxurious bars feel bougie when you’re there. But taking just the glassware and using it at home doesn’t create the same overall atmosphere without everything else in that bar. The vibe is how all these parts come together to create a feeling.

That’s the vibe.

How this impacts work today?

“Vibe marketing” is creating assets via an interface, in ChatGPT.

Here is an example. I gave ChatGPT two images, and said to place the candle inside of the first image.

Photoshoots to produce 10-20 of these pictures cost hundreds of dollars each time. This was done on the $20/month ChatGPT plan.

With every element, I can make changes. I can make the image higher contrast. I can change the text, or the entire “vibe” of the image.

Here’s another example of placing the same candle in a different scene. As you’ll see, it’s not quite perfect yet. But I wanted to keep it honest and share the first image from the single prompt, without trying to perfect things for the sake of looking cool. Labels will need a little photoshop.

Five minutes of photoshop and I’d pay for this photo. Now, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop paying for photographs or videos. It’s an important part of a business like mine (selling candles), but this is where taste creates vibes, and it’s all taking over.

Taste is a new qualification

In software, most of these fast-growing companies list “taste” as a key qualification in their team members. It might feel random, but it all ties together.

• Taste is the ability to make decisions that create quality experiences.

• Vibes are the resulting emotional atmosphere experienced by the user.

And it relates to work because to move quickly, people have to know the right move. Their taste guides them to the right decision. Taste is many things, including:

• How someone knows that out of 100 things, which 3 really matter.

• Seeing a proposed solution and knowing their customers will love it (on the spot).

• Attention to small details that don’t mean much individually, but together, make for a great experience.

The days of 100 pages of handbooks and guidelines telling people what to do these things are over. They’re obsolete. It tells you everything about where world (and the job market) are going.

Old-school companies (especially big ones), love to judge their employees by how well they follow the process.

The best, fastest growing companies hire people who don’t need a process to do great work and make an impact.

It’s no longer about over-engineering every part of each job because the data says doing things a certain way is best. Data is obviously important, but when technology changes so fast, how can a guideline or a process actually keep up?

There are multi-billion dollar companies that will need to get teams of people together to talk about AI, to decide if they should add it to their guidelines, to politic over who’s going to own it, and then they might actually build something with AI. A few weeks later, the technology might see another major shift, and they’ll have to repeat their bureaucratic process all over again.

People who have cultivated the right “taste” will fit in naturally, and won’t need a process. They’ll know what to do, and get it done.

Building Vibes (Skills)

Several specialized disciplines directly contribute to building products with intentional taste and specific vibes:

Foundations:

Art Direction - Establishing the visuals and aesthetic principles that guide the product's appearance. It’s about making sure the coffee cup fits that environment. That the clothes a character wears fit their role as the “rich friend,” or the “tech bro.” It’s all about the details and how they fit together.

• Typography selection and hierarchy

• Color theory and palette development

• Composition and layout principles

• Visual consistency across touch points

Creative Direction - Developing the overarching conceptual framework and narrative. Do you write casually, or formally? Are the colours muted to reflect a melancholy, almost depressing mood (Severance). It’s the underpinning of the art direction.

• Brand storytelling and positioning

• Conceptual themes and metaphors

• Emotional tone and personality

• Creative problem-solving approaches

UX Design - Creating intuitive, meaningful user journeys and interactions. The unboxing experience. The way the settings are all easy to find and navigate. It’s about knowing what the user will want to do next, and make it easy.

• Information architecture

• User flow orchestration

• Interaction patterns

• Usability principles

Content Strategy - Shaping the voice, messaging, and information hierarchy

• Voice and tone development

• Copywriting and narrative design

• Content hierarchy and information design

• Terminology and language systems

Supporting skillsets:

Sound Design - Creating the auditory landscape of the product. When you think of the overall vibe, it’s hard not to consider the music and sound effects.

• UI sound effects and feedback

• Ambient soundscapes

• Audio branding elements

• Voice and audio content

Environmental Design - For physical products especially.

• Spatial relationships

• Materials and textures

• Lighting and atmosphere

• Physical-digital integration

Cultural Literacy - Understanding broader contexts that influence perception. It’s about knowing that the customers you sell to consider interiors made of concrete high-end, and perhaps see wood as old-fashioned (where other cultures might feel the opposite).

• Cultural references and associations

• Trend analysis and forecasting

• Subculture knowledge and semiotics

• Historical design movements

Behavioural Psychology - Understanding how design choices affect user feelings

• Emotional design principles

• Cognitive load management

• Behavioral nudges and affordances

• Memory and association patterns

People with exceptional taste typically have exposure to multiple disciplines above. When all of this comes together, it’s easy to know what to do next.

In many ways, it’s how we make jokes about the work that we should be doing with a bit more focus. Not tracking something at work? Nah, we’re vibe-tracking it.

Not good at marketing? Try vibe-marketing (like I’m about to go back to with ChatGPT).

But that’s all for today. Thanks again for reading.