Lately, I've been noticing something. An important but subtle shift in how designers are learning and creating.
Normally, if you want to improve as a designer you'd pull up a YouTube video to watch someone else's process that you could follow along and try on your own. Eventually you could put your twist on what you learned. Rinse and repeat.
It wasn't as fast as the content we have today but it was similar to learning by hand. It felt tactile.
Today however, I'm seeing more and more demand for designers typing prompts.
Not necessarily asking how to do something but asking “how should I tell AI to do it?”. Instead of learning how to make a certain shape or effect we’re telling Midjourney to make a design with chrome 3D stars and circles. It's fascinating and strange at the same time. And if I'm honest, a bit surreal.
The Tools are Changing but We're Still Here
For clarity, I don't want this to sound like a back in my day rant. I welcome new tools and processes that we can explore. AI is part of my workflow now when it comes to brainstorming names for products or writing descriptions. It gives me angles I hadn't even considered. There's something to be said for that.
I do wonder though, how much are we giving up when we begin to skip the slower learning. If we go from concept to completion too fast. I don’t want to forget what it's like to wrestle with anchor points in Illustrator or get lost in a mood board.
What I'm now realizing is that there's value in not knowing. That place where we try a certain thing, make adjustments, fail, and then eventually learn from that.
A New Kind of Creative Approach
We appear to be entering a time where creative literacy means knowing how to talk to machines. Writing prompts is becoming a skill that's like half design half strategy. Even then, these prompts are rooted in understanding design as it relates to textures, form, structure and colors.
The foundations still matter.
If you find yourself in between a more traditional tutorial and a prompt, I'm right there with you. For now I'm still exploring my curiosity but leaving space for slower learning.
Thanks for letting me think out loud here. Until next time.
P.S. My aim is to keep this newsletter free and cozy for as long as I can. If you ever feel like supporting my work—or if you’re looking for design resources to use in your own creative projects—I keep a small collection of thoughtfully-made design assets over in my Gumroad shop. No pressure at all, but always deeply appreciated.
I'm looking forward to seeing the styles of the first generation of designers who primarily taught themselves to work this way, similar to the first generation of music producers who didn't give a fuck whether drawing in notes in FL Studio counted as making real music and just wanted to make sick shit.
I definitely am experimenting a ton and see it as another tool in the kit. But I think you put it well to leave space for slower learning. I am constantly trying to do this for my kids.