The Flawed Flex
In a world where everything is polished, imperfection is the new proof of life.
You know the feeling.
You open Instagram.
You scroll LinkedIn.
You’re served a carousel of perfection.
The captions are tight.
The logos are symmetrical.
The voices are measured.
The avatars? A little too smooth.
Everything just... works.
But something’s missing.
It’s the thing we used to call vibe.
Or energy. Or presence.
The thing that made you say: who made this?
Not what—but who.
And that question might be the next luxury signal in brand.
Because authorship—visible, messy, human authorship—just became a flex.
We used to brag about being
“Powered by AI.”
Now, increasingly, I’m hearing whispers of something else.
More defiant. More delicious.
“Made by hand.”
“Crafted with care.”
“Designed by humans.”
And those words hit different in 2025.
Because they’re not just about origin.
They’re about intention.
This week I’ve been collaborating with an old friend—a mascot designer.
A real human with real soul.
There’s swing in his linework.
Charm in the asymmetry.
You can feel the joy in every sketch, you can see it in the eyes.
like someone left a little of themselves in the ink.
It’s not flawless.
But it’s felt.
And maybe—that’s the new signal.
In ancient Persian rug-making, artisans would intentionally weave a flaw into their otherwise immaculate patterns.
A so-called “Persian flaw.”
Why?
Because only God is perfect.
For them, the flaw wasn’t an accident.
It was an act of reverence.
A humble signature from the maker.
A way of saying: this was made by a human.
I think about that often now, as brands race toward frictionless.
Toward sameness.
Toward “right.”
But the truth is: the Persian flaw wasn’t a mistake.
It was a message.
And maybe your next campaign needs one, too.
Creative studios may soon be the new bespoke.
Not for execution—but for essence.
Not just to make something—but to mean something.
The best studios today don’t sell output.
They sell taste.
They sell authorship.
They sell fingerprints and feels.
You don’t hire them for what they do.
You hire them for how they do it.
And that how is branding in its purest form.
So what’s your brand’s signature?
Can I recognize it in the wild?
Would I feel it with the sound off?
Is there rhythm in your story?
Or are you outsourcing your soul to the algorithm?
Because AI can do the job.
But it can’t make me care.
That part’s still on us.
Some provocations as you plan your next campaign:
Who made this?
If the answer’s unclear, so is the message.What do we want people to feel?
Not just know. Not just buy. Feel.Where’s the soul?
If it’s too clean, too quick, too perfect... maybe that’s the problem.
In the coming wave, automation will be table stakes.
But authorship?
That’s what will separate the brands we scroll past
from the ones we remember.
So go ahead.
Show your brushstrokes.
Leave the fingerprints.
Design with a pulse.
Because when everything looks the same,
it’s the quirks that build connection.
And it’s the humans who still move culture.
September 23, 2025
© 2025 The Continuum
