I’m quite gruntled, thank you very much.
You thought you had me, huh?
It’s pretty well known that the NextDoor app tends to be…not great. Rather than being a helpful source for neighborhood things, it’s become a mishmash of NIMBYs, missing pets, complaints about dog poop, complaints about complaints, and my favorite - neighbors crying about censorship and their First Amendment rights when a political post of theirs is removed. Even though ND specifically says that it should be local politics only.
A few days ago, I made a post with some examples of AI flyers and mentioned how small businesses need to keep their flyers from looking like those. I made it a point to mention that I know that not every small business has a marketing budget (something I have thoughts about, but that’s not for this post), and I mentioned that I know businesses are doing their best. In addition to that, I also offered some free advice on free and low-cost programs and asset creators they can use. Someone replied in the comments, calling me a
“disgruntled graphic designer looking down the barrel of being obsolete”.
Let me be clear about something. Do I complain about things at times? Absolutely! Doesn’t EVERYONE complain about parts of their job? Am I grumpy about some of the things I experience in my career? Of course! Doesn’t everyone?
I also want to be clear - I’m not afraid of AI. Some of the work I do can’t be replicated by AI, and the work that CAN be replicated by AI isn’t work I want to do. The people who rely on the AI flyers that look exactly alike are the people who either can’t afford me (or any graphic designer) or who don’t see the value in hiring or working with one. I’m not losing any business to them and, in fact, am usually saving myself a headache. I’ve been doing this for over 10 years. I have enough experience to know when something (or someone) will be a problem. I can sniff it out. I haven’t been wrong yet.
Ok, but what does your ACTUAL food look like?
My thoughts on the future of graphic design aren’t very bleak. In fact, I see the widespread use of AI as having some benefits. What kind, you ask? Well…
More and more people are starting to rely on AI-generated flyers, but no one knows how to make good ones. So you end up with a bunch of flyers that ALL look the same. I’m in several food groups, and I can’t tell you the number of times different restaurants have posted in the groups, and you cannot tell that they’re different. Their flyers all look the same, and the food always looks like that fake food that you give to kids. This means that flyers that actually look legit and show real food will be more in demand.
As much as AI can do, it can never replace the eyes of a human. Even before ChatGPT blew up, a fair bit of my business came from having to fix or rebuild things that they had AI make for them.
There will ALWAYS be things that only humans can do, and the more gen-AI bleeds over into the creative field, the more people crave “real” things. They’re tired of seeing plastic-looking food, and that scratchy brush font that jumps out of the page at you.
I do not feel threatened by AI. If anything, it opens up the field for me to be hired by people who value quality and expertise. Anyway, if you’re a small business, again, consider making a small marketing budget. Even if it’s just to get a subscription to a program like Canva. Think outside the box. Barter. Offer food or product in order to get design work. There are options, and I promise you that you will attract more business. People want REAL.
My friend from NextDoor is wrong. I may give the impression that I’m burned out on graphic design. While I’m burned out on some elements, overall I’m just fine. I’m trying to expand that to not be purely graphic design, but I can assure you that I’m very gruntled.
