Etsy acquires Mixel

Acqui-hiring Khoi Vinh is the big news here (no offense to his colleagues). He's a huge personality in the design world. "Fast Company named Vinh one of "The 50 Most Influential Designers in America" in September 2011." Congrats to the Mixel team AND Etsy.

I remember having Khoi making a presentation back in our school loft a year ago: smart, passionate guy. Had high hopes for the app too mostly because of his enthusiasm, though ultimately unfulfilled because as app required Facebook account to participate, and the singular reason given was that I had to use my real name.

The assumption that I have to give in my real name to be able to make some collages with an app is/was borderline arrogant, and while everyone can make mistakes it leaves a long lasting sour taste against persons involved.

I always thought Mixel was an interesting, useful app and, in some ways, more useful than Instagram. The big question is how much they were acquired for.

I installed Mixel for its collage capabilities but I was turned off by its social network aspect.

Sadly, I've noticed that it's the case for a lot of apps in this space (e.g. Instagram of course, Cinemagram, Viddy, SocialCam, etc.): instead of providing a simple function, they provide it wrapped into a dedicated social network. I see why they do it: some people want a fully integrated experience and it's likely to make the company more valuable if it becomes successful.

However I personally like the Camera+ model much more: an app that stands on its own, but that provides an API for other app to use (http://api.camerapl.us/app-api).

That being said, congratulations to the team there! My personal preferences shall not hinder their success :)

Hey…it's Khoi Vinh! I remember hearing him speak at Design Thinkers in Toronto when I was still in school.

He was speaking as one of the panels about what students should expect after graduation, in terms of work places. Every other person on the panel was going on about similar points - one of them was prepare to work very hard (give your life . Almost everyone on the panel was from an agency) - Khoi immediately spoke up and said he disagreed, saying that a balance/social life is still needed and important. And that he would never expect or ask his interns and new grads hires to work themselves to extreme (which seems to be the norm/expected in the GD field). Some discussions ensued. It was very refreshing.