When Stefan Sagmeister founded his solo design studio in New York in 1993, he sent out a promotional postcard featuring a photo of himself wearing nothing but dress socks. These days, there's a plethora of digital platforms available, but getting the attention of potential clients can be more difficult than ever. There's competition not just from other designers, but AI. And Instagram doesn't allow full-frontal nudity.

Still, a designer has managed to get massive attention on social media this week for a single striking calling card: a highly polished film shot in 8K with a full crew and Barbieland sound stage. The scale of the production has some other designers wondering if making a movie trailer is what it takes to find work these days, but the video's real takeaway is in the content more than the format.

Darshita Patankar is a visual designer and illustrator based in Bengaluru.…