The “existential crisis” of knowledge work & Figma files for IPO

Philipp Temmel -

My name is Philipp and you are reading Creativerly, the internet corner where I unpack my musings, curate and write about noteworthy apps and software, and explore the latest trends in design and tech.

Hey and welcome to Creativerly 322 👋

Since I am currently working on and writing a post about Mastodon, I have been trying out and using a bunch of different Mastodon third-party clients. While doing so, I immediately got reminded why such third-party clients are so crucial for social networks, as they extend the feature set and introduce lovely, powerful experiences that fuel how people are interacting with the respective social network. As Mastodon experienced multiple surges in users joining the platform, loads of developers start building third-party clients. There are so many of them now that it is hard to keep track of them all, however, while doing some research, it was lovely to see that the majority of them had their own niche of users enjoying very specific ways to access, interact with, and post on Mastodon.

It seems like something similar is happening with Bluesky, as an increasing number of third-party clients are popping up on my timeline, with even very specific use-cases as some of them resemble the idea of Instagram (only showing image posts), and TikTok (only showing short form video content). I am excited about diving into this topic even more as I am progressing with this post I am currently writing about apps and tools I discovered that allow you to access and interact with decentralized social networks.

Fresh Updates & News

Horse Browser introduces Multi-Trail Selection* →

Horse Browser released a new feature called Multi-Trail Selection, which allows users to use CMD Click macOS or CTRL Click on Windows/Linux, to select multiple trails. Once you are done selecting, you can right-click and get access to some lovely actions like instantly clearing out old pages you no longer need, file trails into folders to organize whatever you are working on or researching, and export the selected trail to Markdown, which is great for backups or in case you want to use them in your preferred note-taking app.

In case you are not familiar with Horse Browser, a cozy and calm browser that is packed with some interesting features, make sure to check out the deep dive I wrote about, which will give you an overview of the app and its functionalities.

Notion Mail is now available to everyone for free →

After getting a first glimpse into Notion Mail back in October 2024, the app is now available to everyone for free.

Notion acquired calendar app Cron in June 2022, and re-launched it as Notion Calendar afterwards. In February 2024, Notion continued its shopping-spree by acquiring productivity suite Skiff, which offered apps and products for file storage, docs, calendar, and email. There has been immediate rumors that Notion will introduce an email client or a file storage after that acquisition, and as initially mentioned, we did not have to wait long as just eight months later, Notion introduced Notion Mail, which is now available for everyone. You can download the macOS app right away, while an iOS app is still in the works.

I have not had a closer look at it yet, since it only supports Gmail/Google accounts as of writing this, which to me it just feels off to write something like this in 2025, when there are loads of email services that do a way better job than Gmail. In case you want to get some more information about Notion Mail, head over to its website, and check out this piece by David Pierce for The Verge.

OpenAI is building a social network →

In November 2024, The Information published the scoop that OpenAI is thinking about making its own browser, and in January 2025, we got a glimpse of 'Operator', a research preview of an agent that use its own browser to perform tasks for the user. Just a month after that, another major AI company, Perplexity, introduced Comet, their AI-powered browser. As if we had not already to deal with enough uncertain data-scraping situations because of AI chats, AI searches, and AI browsers, The Verge reports that OpenAI is working on its own X-like social network. Both X and Meta use the real-time data of their users to help train their AI models. It is likely that the idea behind OpenAI's is a similar one.

Figma files for IPO →

One year after ditching the Adobe deal, Figma confidentially files for IPO, as it submitted paperwork to the U.S. Securities Exchange commission. The initial deal to be acquired by Adobe for $20 billion got scrapped because of regulatory pressure in the UK.

Figma acquires Modyfi →

Ahead of its annual conference called Config, Figma acquired Modyfi, a design platform built for multidisciplinary designers to design, generate, animate, and more without the need of switching apps. As part of this acquisition, Modyfi will no longer be available after June 13th. Until then, users have the time to export any final versions of artwork they created in Modyfi, as they will no longer be accessible after June 13th.

Modyfi has been know for being an innovative platform to quickly transform designs into perfectly looped animations, experience world-class image editing, and being on the forefront of leveraging AI with fine-tuneable controls to create and design in a whole new way.

Mental Wealth

❯ The “existential crisis” of knowledge work – “I’m in London this week for research and meetings, and a recurring theme keeps surfacing in my conversations: how is the nature of research evolving in a post-AI world? What’s clear is that Deep Research functions on OpenAI and Grok 3 are now surpassing human capabilities in many ways. Even David Perell, known for his widely popular writing courses, recently announced he’s winding down his business — calling it an “existential crisis” — largely because AI is reshaping what it means to be a writer.”

❯ The Vision Spiral: Seeing, Sensing, and Shaping What’s Next – “I’ve found that nothing of transformative value happens without vision. So I try to keep my own eyes open. Alert. Curious. Because meaningful transformation begins with seeing beyond what exists today. And that requires knowing yourself well enough to admit when your eyes might be … a little … closed. Why? Well, because maybe you’re a little tired. And I definitely know the feeling…”

❯ Designed, Designy or Well-designed? – “If we create something with purpose, we’ve designed it. It’s not an accident. An axe handle is designed, and so is a symphony. Some things, though are designy. The designer’s fingerprints are all over it. The typefaces, knurled edges, needless heat sinks and homage to Dieter Rams are there for anyone who cares to look. Why use a word when a vague picture or two is available?”

❯ Make no mistake, employees will always be just a line item. – “As the world turns and countries and companies are still swirling in the latest round of primordial goo, it’s a good time to remind those who are employed and seeking employment that at the end of the day, you are nothing but a line item. The dedication and devotion you give, or hope to again some day, is disposible.”

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Appendix

❯ ICYMI

The controversial, hustle culture-shaped career of Gumroad's founder found its peak, as Sahil Lavingia joins Elon Musk's DOGE and its plans to digitize the Department of Veterans Affairs. Read more about it in my newest post The Dark Side of Gumroad.

❯ Quick Bits

Till next time! 👋‌‌‌‌

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