WTF are "vibes"?
....tiny choices, one coherent story.
People treat “vibes” like incense smoke…something magical that appears from nowhere. But there's nothing mysterious about it. A vibe is what happens when dozens of tiny, deliberate choices start telling the same story at the same time: the way someone moves, the clothing they wear, the energy of a room, texture that whispers age or shouts polish, spacing that lets you breathe or crowds you into tension.
When people refer to a vibe, what they're really feeling is coherence so complete that the thing stops looking designed and starts feeling inevitable.
That is all.
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Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time studying composition, typography, and layout, and I keep finding myself drawn to how dance culture and contemporary practices present their work. There’s a level of intentionality there that goes beyond “looking good.” The design is doing emotional work. It’s telling a story.
This feels especially important for movers, teachers, and coaches whose work is more philosophical or embodied in nature. That world lives closer to what I think of as the romantic side of movement, as opposed to the classical fitness narrative of reps, metrics, and optimization. Neither is wrong, but they communicate very different values.
I recently came across a simple event poster from Synergy Styles that captures this balance beautifully.
The composition does exactly what it needs to do: your eye moves naturally from the top image and title, to where and when it’s happening. The essential information is immediately clear, while the imagery and symbolism quietly set the tone without getting in the way. Finally the eye gets pulled to the bottom right where more details are presented.
Good design isn’t just about aesthetics or romanticizing an idea. It’s about solving a problem clearly and intentionally. If you run a practice as a business, you don’t want people guessing what you’re about. You want clarity and feeling to coexist. That tension, between romance and structure, is where strong “movement brands” tend to live.
DESIGN CORNER 👀
As part of my practice, I’ve been taking all types of “artifacts” from the health and movement space that resonate with me and re-mixing them in ways that I find pleasing.
Have you ever read Beware False Tigers, by Frank Forencich? Great book… but I’ve always thought that the book cover could use a little remixing.
TINY INSIGHT 🧠
“The details are not the details. They make the design.” — Charles Eames
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To ATD,
Galo Alfredo Naranjo
