How Pinterest’s new app ‘Shuffles’ can be a valuable asset to designers
In April 2018, Polyvore was acquired by SSENSE, a Canadian designer fashion and streetwear brand.
Polyvore (may she rest in peace) was a social media collage app, where users could make fashion collages, moodboards, and interior design layouts. The app allowed creators to open a blank white background, then scroll through categories like tops, bottoms, backgrounds, or beauty to choose from a variety of transparent images. Once you chose your transparent elements, you could arrange them on the background or on each other to create whatever you like.
One little known fact about me- I used to run a fashion page on Instagram, creating outfit ideas with accessories and makeup. I vividly remember the death of Polyvore, even though I was no longer creating with the app. I remember how many successful moodboard accounts like mine had to adapt overnight or lose the brand they built. Polyvore had a niche ecosystem of accounts that relied on its technology.
Polyvore was revolutionary at the time because it made moodboards easy and accessible before apps like Canva revolutionized the design game. Before Polyvore (and even after it was gone), creators like me would have to search “tank top png” on Google and pray that a graphic designer with access to expensive, advanced tech on their computer had taken the time to create exactly what I envisioned.
Of course, today, the iPhone creates transparent images within the photos app easily. But in the mid-2010s, erasing the background of an image on your phone was quite tedious and time-consuming.
As I mentioned, Polyvore no longer exists. All Polyvore related domains redirect to SSENSE. There has not been a comparable replacement to Polyvore since 2018… until now.
Shuffles was released invite-only in the summer of 2022 and was more widely released on the App Store in the fall. Shuffles is linked to Pinterest, and you log in with your pinterest account. Shuffles allows users to create moodboards and other collages in a very similar way to Polyvore, but with Shuffles, it is easier to add your own “cutouts” - transparent images - straight from your saved Pins on Pinterest. You can also search images by hashtag or keyword.
I have been experimenting with Shuffles for a month or so now, and I think the platform has a lot of potential. It certainly fills the Polyvore-sized hole in my heart. I love digital collage-making, but I have had to use multiple apps to achieve the same effect I can on Shuffles.
I highly recommend that graphic designers try to use Shuffles as a starting point for brand identity planning. I think the app’s capabilities can be used to create moodboards as a helpful starting point when designers are trying to get a feel for a brand’s mood.
Shuffles is not perfect. It crashes every once in a while, and it is certainly a work in progress. However, as a past die-hard Polyvore user, I can’t wait to see how the app continues to develop and grow.
