The Decline of Design

Sean Heber of Iconfactory brings the harsh realities of maintaining steady design work in the era of AI dominance.

Sean Heber

@bigzaphod@mastodon.social

ChatGPT and other AI services are basically killing @Iconfactory and I'm not exaggerating or being hyperbolical.

First Twitter/Elon killed our main app revenue that kept the lights on around here, then generative AI exploded to land a final blow to design revenue.

July 11, 2025, 2:17 pm 267 boosts 257 favorites

I am sorry to read about the challenges Iconfactory is facing. The first product I worked on after I got into software development used icons created by the studio. Their Twitter client, Twitterrific was what lured me to join that network years ago. I love their design sensibilities and the level of craft they bring to their work.

My favorite Iconfactory project has to be the artwork for the iOS version of Carcassonne. I was so sad when that app ceased development. It was truly a cut above.