This week’s new tools, tutorials, and resources 👇
Indy AI: An AI-powered job finder for creatives — find opportunities perfectly matched for you, based on your skills, experience, and preferences (NEW).*
guidde: Create stunning how-to videos, guides, and documentation in seconds (Free Chrome extension).*
Deck.Gallery: A curated collection of beautiful decks, presentations, pitches, and more (Free).
Motion Software: Creating professional, and modern animated recordings on Windows (Free tool).
the gist of: A minimalist personal site builder (Free tool).
In partnership with
TOP STORY
▶ Google releases “Vids”
NEW Automatic Transcript Trimming feature
This week, Google launched a free version of "Vids," their AI-powered video creation app, and moved several AI features to general availability.
Previously exclusive to paid Google Workspace customers since 2024, Vids is now accessible to everyone with a basic free tier, while premium AI features are graduating from beta to full release.
Google Vids has already reached 1M+ monthly active users since launching exclusively for Google Workspace customers in 2024.
NEW Image-to-Video feature
What's new this week:
AI Avatars (Beta → General Availability): Previously announced at Google I/O in May, AI avatars are now fully available for creating professional videos with pre-made presenters.
Image-to-Video (with Veo 3): A NEW feature that transforms static images into 8-second video clips with realistic sound using text prompts.
Automatic Transcript Trimming: A NEW one-click editing tool that removes filler words and awkward pauses.
Free Tier: A “Basic Vids” editor is now available at no cost with templates and stock media (but it doesn’t include AI features).
The move puts Google in direct competition with free video editors like CapCut and Canva, while keeping advanced AI features exclusive to paid Google Workspace subscribers and Google AI Pro/Ultra users.
AI Avatars feature
Google also launched "Vids on Vids", a new instructional series that walks users through the platform's features and best practices for video creation workflows.
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
🍌 Google releases “Nano Banana”
This week, Google released "Nano Banana," officially named Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, a breakthrough AI image editing model that went viral on LMArena before its official announcement.
The model represents a major leap forward in AI image editing, focusing on character consistency and precise control — two areas where most AI tools typically fail.
It's now the top-rated image editing model in the world and integrates directly into the Google Gemini app.
Why "Nano Banana"? The quirky name emerged when the model appeared anonymously on LMArena, a platform where different AI models compete in "Battle Mode" — users submit prompts to two anonymous models without knowing which is which.
The model began showing banana icons in prompts and outputs, while Google employees started posting banana emojis on social media with no explanation, leading the community to dub it "Nano Banana."
What makes Nano Banana different is its ability to maintain perfect character likeness across multiple edits, solving the common problem where AI-edited photos look "close but not quite right."
With Nano Banana, you can now:
Give yourself costume or location changes: Upload any photo and the model keeps your exact likeness while placing you in completely new scenarios, from different professions to historical periods.
Blend multiple photos seamlessly: Combine separate images of you and your pet, or merge different scenes to create perfect composite shots without quality loss.
Try multi-turn editing: Make progressive edits to the same image — start with an empty room, add paint, then furniture, with each edit building on the previous while preserving existing details.
Mix and match designs: Apply the texture and color of flower petals to a pair of boots, or use butterfly wing patterns to design clothing.
The model also excels at targeted edits like background changes, object removal, and style transfers, all controlled through simple text prompts rather than complex masking tools.
And the best? All generated images include visible watermarks and Google's invisible SynthID system to clearly identify AI-generated content.
Free users get 100 image edits daily, while paid subscribers can create up to 1,000 edits. The model is also available to developers through the Gemini API and Google AI Studio.
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WEB DESIGN
💰 Framer raises $100 million
This week, Framer raised $100 million in Series D funding led by existing investors Meritech and Atomico, valuing the no-code website builder at $2 billion.
The funding comes just one month after competitor Figma's massive IPO debut, where shares soared 250% on day one.
But while Figma dominates collaborative design, Framer is capturing the next frontier: letting designers ship entire websites without developer handoffs.
Can’t wait to show you all the idiotic features we have in the pipeline
— #Framer (#@framer)
2:18 PM • Aug 28, 2025
The round came together organically. Framer wasn't actively fundraising when existing investors Meritech and Atomico approached them about additional funding.
Framer is becoming the standard for professional sites by solving a decade-old problem. While tools like Wix and Squarespace transformed personal websites, professional sites still required developer-heavy workflows.
Framer bridges that gap with a flexible design canvas plus enterprise features like built-in CMS, advanced analytics, and A/B testing.
One of the all-time greatest pivots? @framer just raised $100M at a $2B valuation. Started as prototyping tool. In 2022, @koenbok and @jornvandijk pivoted to production-ready websites. 40% of the last YC batch launched on Framer. $50M ARR this year, $100M next, break-even 🫡🙌
— #Yoram Wijngaarde (#@yoramdw)
2:09 PM • Aug 29, 2025
The company's growth metrics:
Massive scale: Hundreds of thousands of sites run on Framer, with more than half a million people using the platform each month — this puts them in the same league as established design platforms.
Break-even profitability: Framer has been break-even for the past year, a rarity among fast-growing startups.
Startup adoption: Close to half of the recent Y Combinator (the most successful startup accelerator in the world) batch launched with Framer.
Notable customers: Companies like Perplexity, Scale AI, Miro, Zapier, and Mixpanel power their websites with Framer.
According to the company, the funding will accelerate three key areas: US expansion, deeper AI investment, and continued product development.
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OTHER STORIES
Everything else in creative news 🗞
a16z released a list of the Top 100 generative AI consumer apps.
Figma now allows you to restrict access to published Sites and Makes with a new password protection feature.
Figma now allows you to access millions of high-quality stock images from Unsplash directly in Figma Buzz.
Figma added support for Gemini 2.5 Flash.
Figma is hosting a hackathon with $100k in prizes (powered by Contra).
Framer released “Plugins 3.6,” introducing new layout traits for Stacks and Grids, improvements to make it easier to apply padding, switch layouts, or update text attributes at scale, and more.
Framer added support for Flowbite Icons, a collection of over 750 outlined icons.
Stitch by Google shipped a new foundational feature that lets you see your entire user flow at once.
Riverside now allows you to translate your videos (with audio dubbing and lip syncing) to 30+ languages with just a click.
DaVinci Resolve released v20.1.1 which includes: faster load times for Blackmagic Cloud projects with stacked timelines, improved retention of clip and copy and paste options, cleaner layer and node layout for PSD imports in Fusion, and more.
Play will be releasing “Play AI” very soon.
VEED has hired Peter Steinauer as its new CTO — he is behind some of the most iconic video tools ever, including Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Clips, and more.
Descript has promoted its VP of Product to CEO.
KREA AI released its first real-time video generation model (in beta).
Spline released “Vector Masks” in Hana, allowing you to use a shape as a mask.
Bolt released “Version History,” allowing you to easily review and restore any version of your build.
v0 now allows you to toggle device view so you can preview your generations on desktop, tablet, and mobile.
v0 now allows you to use your app while the AI agent is working in the background.
v0 shipped several bug fixes this week.
Shots released “Magic Backgrounds V2,” a new feature that automatically adapts your background to match your video.
Adobe added support for Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash Image model in Firefly and Adobe Express.
Higgsfield AI released “Higgsfield Record,” the first AI record label.
Higgsfield AI released “Mini Apps,” a collection of 2,000+ presets for AI-generated videos.
Higgsfield AI released “Speak 2.0,” a new AI voice model with emotions, context, and 70+ languages.
Higgsfield AI released 10 new KPOP-inspired presets.
Higgsfield AI added support for Start & End frames, powered by Haliuo AI.
Tella released transcripts on the View page, allowing you to copy & paste them, navigate through videos, and share timestamps.
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