Never heard of Are.na but their aesthetic / interface reminds me a lot of Notion. Given its been around for longer, I wonder if they were inspiration for Notion.
I'd say it's orthogonal to Notion: Notion's design is more "organic" & "human". Are.na chose an aesthetic one could describe as "synthetic" & "industrial".
Both are visually pleasing and share a utilitarian goal, but from different sides of spectrum.
Both are visually pleasing and share a utilitarian goal, but from different sides of spectrum.