TED Talk Illustrations: This is what the future of media looks like

Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie was invited to deliver a TED Talk in Vancouver on the future of media. Excited by the opportunity and with just about a month to prepare, we pulled our resources together and created a set of illustrations to help bring the talk’s concepts to life.

The talk begins by examining today’s broken media landscape, then presents a vision of a new system taking root and thriving — the garden.

He begins by framing the history of media as a kind of temple — top-down, centralized, and controlled by gatekeepers. Newspapers, radio, and television news defined the era. 

Then turns to the present, describing how internet companies have sacked the temple. Craigslist took over the classifieds, Google and Facebook seized the advertising market, and streaming services are dismantling television.

With the rise of social networks, we’ve gone from catechism to cacophony.

Even in the chaos, we still see something new emerging — the green shoots of a garden.

After highlighting a few successful Substack cases, he introduces the broader Substack ecosystem. A flourished garden that is about ownership and sustainability and resilience. When the creators own their relationships with their audiences directly, no platform or algorithm can suddenly cut them off from their community. That sense of ownership translates into a sustainable income that doesn't depend on algorithmic whims or viral trends.

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Design & Illustration│Joro Chen