Hi all,
So it’s Wednesday and I just got back from running an AI workshop in Austin for LATAM family offices and a keynote for tax executives on Tuesday. I was feeling pretty good about the week until I got a message from a client I’m running a workshop for in a couple weeks:
“Hey! How’s that flyer coming along?”
Crap.
I was so heads-down delivering content earlier in the week that I completely forgot I’d promised him a flyer so he could promote the event with his network. I quickly reached out to a couple of my designers, but nobody could turn it around same-day.
What should I do?!?
I’ve been hearing a lot about Claude Design lately, so I decided to give it a shot. For the record, I have zero aesthetic sense. My fiancée can vouch for the fact that I’m barely able to dress myself and look presentable on a daily basis.
The setup was a bit of a slog. It took a few attempts to build a design system that actually referenced my website and brand guidelines properly. But once it was configured, I just told it what text I wanted.
The first draft blew my mind. 🤯
It wasn’t perfect, but it was already 10x better than anything I could’ve hacked together on my own. I spent the next hour giving it tweaks exactly like I would with a human designer:
- “My headshot is cut off. Shift the photo down so the top of my head is visible.”
- “There are too many panels. Please remove the third one.”
- “The ‘Education / Author / Faculty’ text is too small. Widen that column.”
- “No, that’s too much. Shift it back a bit.”
- “C’mon, that looks terrible! What’s wrong with you? This isn’t hard.”
- “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way. Please forgive me.”
After an hour of playing digital director, Claude generated something stunning. I honestly didn’t believe I’d created it. Check out the final result below:
Amongst all the fear-mongering about AI and job loss, people are forgetting the real story: these tools democratize skills that were previously reserved for a small population of technicians.
The “Intelligence Revolution” means the barrier to entry has been obliterated. Everyone is now a developer, a designer, and an artist.
If you haven’t played with the tools that support multi-media creation, website development, or design, now’s your time to start. Block off 30 minutes today to play with a tool like Claude Design, Runway, or Midjourney. Don’t try to be “productive,” just see what it can do!
The gap between the early adopters and everyone else is exploding. Don’t wait for the “perfect” moment to start. The time to act is now!
Best,
Dr. Michael “House” Housman