After Design – Helping Designers Adapt to an AI Future
AI is redefining the design landscape. Stay ahead with this weekly newsletter on trends & how to prepare your career for an AI future.
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Design ➡️ Strategy
Published 28 days ago • 4 min read
21 April 2024 | Issue #44
In this issue:
Is strategy the death of design?
Can we have ethical AI?
Which states use AI the most
AI prompts: The book
Adobe Premiere Pro adding genAI capabilities
How to set up your own Discord server for Midjourney
Find inspiration in Cleveland
"Strategy" can be a tricky word. It means different things to different people. For some, it sets the direction that teams follow. There are some strategists who are just big-picture thinkers, but they don't want get their hands dirty and do any of the actual detail work.
Strategy in the design world is becoming more popular for multiple reasons.
For businesses, incorporating design thinking into overall strategy is important because it puts the customer at the center of product strategy (if you're familiar with Pragmatic, you'll see a lot of similarities). Some product teams just want to build cool stuff. Successful businesses build products their customers want and/or need.
For individuals, positioning themselves as strategists helps make them more indispensable. They're able to add more perceived value than design on its own.
“We know when the economy tanks, branding, marketing, communications are some of the first things to go for some organizations. Strategy is a way to add value and assurance that the work has a strong, well-researched set of ideas behind it.” – Sarah Hromack, design strategist
Right now, design usually some level of execution. There is obviously thinking that goes into design, but because there is a tangible deliverable, designers are seen as do-ers.
Strategists are seen as thinkers, and are paid well because of it.
Designers are already doing the thinking behind brand and creativity. The difference is that many don't explain or document that thinking. That's where strategy comes in.
“Strategy is the articulating, in a very clear way, of a stance that is projected to the public. It says what a brand is about and what it isn’t.” Michael Rock, cofounder and creative director at 2 x 4
Being able to articulate your design thinking, and the role it plays in a business, makes you more valuable. Designers who don't speak up and illustrate their value will continue to be seen as doing execution-level jobs. And these are the jobs that are at risk of being displaced by AI.
👨🏻🏫 Recovering the Common Good for Ethical AI Design
The article delves into how AI design can and should center around the common good, highlighting the immense potential of ethical considerations to transform technology. This lengthy article is interesting as it integrates ethical foresight into the core of innovation, ensuring technology serves humanity broadly and benevolently.
Integration of values: Designing AI with ethical frameworks that align with human dignity and societal well-being.
Promoting justice: Ensuring AI development benefits all segments of society equitably.
Understanding regional AI dependency is key for marketers as it helps tailor technological solutions to the varying needs across different states. This perspective can significantly enhance how responsive and suitable these innovations are to local markets and cultures.
Varied AI reliance: Some states are significantly more reliant on AI technologies than others.
Impact on strategy: The article digs into the main industries in the top and bottom states and tries to discern who is using AI.
📖 Spells: A Compendium of AI Prompts to Enhance Generative Art
This article introduces "Spells," a physical book by RAM Studio and Max Kuwertz, designed to empower designers with powerful AI prompts that enhance the creation of generative art. For designers, this means a treasure trove of inspirations and methodologies that can elevate their creative projects.
Comprehensive collection: Features 250 prompts across various creative fields.
Learning and collaboration: Aids in skill enhancement and encourages connections among artists.
I'm not sure if I'd pay £59 + shipping for a book of AI prompts, but it looks nice.
This is BIG news for anyone who works in video editing.
Drawing on technology from OpenAI’s Sora, Pika, and Runway, Adobe Premiere Pro will allow you to use generative AI video tools to enhance your videos.
Need a scene to last a beat or two longer? Just extend your footage and let the AI fill in the gaps.
Is there a sign in the background of a shot you don't want? Or an element you want to add? It's now easy to add or subtract parts of the video. It's the same as how Firefly technology in Photoshop can auto fill areas.
Even if you don't play with video editing, I suggest watching this three-minute video to see what's possible.
One of the biggest hurdles to generating your own AI images is the technology. Dall-E is pretty easy to use if you have ChatGPT, but it doesn't give you options.
If you're looking to use Midjourney, but don't know how to navigate Discord, I recommend this guide to walk you through the steps.
The Content Entrepreneur at CEX
In a few weeks, many of the authors from the new book, The Content Entrepreneur, will be attending the third Content Entrepreneur Expo (CEX).
I attended the first two CEXs and I not only learned a lot, but I got to make some great contacts and friends.
If you're looking to spend a few days in lovely Cleveland, OH in early May, or you just want to watch the videos after the fact, use my code DESIGN100 to get $100 of the cost.
After Design is a media partner for the event! In fact, the entire idea for After Design was born at last year's CEX.
There is so much creativity in the air, it would be impossible to walk away without some sort of inspiration.
18 May 2024 | Issue #48 In this issue: Too much AI news ChatGPT Mac app Has generative AI already peaked? Harpa.ai breakdown Dall-E 3 Prompt: Please create an image of a person being inundated with news --ar 16:9 It has been a week for AI. There are so many great recaps floating out there on OpenAI's and Google's AI announcements from this past week. Many jobs will be impacted, but now, let's focus on how these announcements impact designers and marketers. First up, Open AI introduced ChatGPT...
12 May 2024 | Issue #47 In this issue: The most valuable designers Apple ad backlash New AI data from Microsoft CEX recap Prompt: a woman who is a designer with multiple arms coming out of her back using different design and art tools. This can be an illustration. --ar 16:9 What is one of the differences between FAANG companies and other companies? Design. FAANG was the acronym for Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. The term has gone out of style as two of these companies (Meta and...
5 May 2024 | Issue #46 In this issue: The AI hype will die down Thinking frameworks for AI How AI is changing work at Asana Midjourney breaks free of Discord An AI agent for your browser I'm in Cleveland! Midjourney on the web The AI hype will die down. It's already starting. Even though I'm 46 issues into this newsletter, at some point it will come to an end. The buzz around AI will go away and people will become accustomed to it. The reason for this is that AI will eventually be baked into...