The Design edition
The AI news of that week, in plain language.
New AI tools for your visual work, plus fresh rules on labels and rights: here is what really matters this week for designers.
Illustrator can now make vector shapes from a sentence, and guide your pen more smartly
Adobe is building AI deeper into the tool you already use, with shapes on a text command and a pen that thinks along.
Adobe has updated Illustrator (version 29.x) with two notable AI features. With "AI Generative Shape" you type a short command and get an editable vector shape on your canvas right away, powered by Firefly. And with "Smart Anchor Prediction" the Pen tool looks along: it suggests the next anchor point as a faint preview dot. According to Adobe, that saves an estimated 60% of manual handle adjustments. The render speed on Apple Silicon and Windows ARM is also noticeably faster.
Background for subscribersUpdate Illustrator and try "AI Generative Shape" once on a practice file, not straight away on client work. Type a simple shape that you often redraw and see if the vector is usable as a starting point. Does the pen prediction feel annoying? Turn it off. It is about saving time on fiddly work, while your eye keeps making the final call.
Canva July update: AI remembers your style and brings search results into your design
Canva released new features in July 2026, with the focus on AI and smarter brand control. Canva AI 2.0 remembers how you work and adapts to your style. New too is a link with Google Search and Gemini, so you can bring search results straight into a design. Integrations with Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot were announced earlier.
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