@tomboutin_ I agree with you. I had to shut it down because people aren’t only looking for “design” services anymore they’re looking beyond the design itself.
The way to adapt is to this is start using AI and deliver more than just visuals: strategy, FE & real business value.
Not gonna lie, getting clients from X hasn’t been easy these past few months.
So during this make or break season, I’ve decided to fully transition into becoming a Design Engineer while helping businesses in my country with AI + automation consulting.
The hard truth?
That made me rethink everything.
Relying only on design work isn’t as easy as it used to be.
Two years ago, maybe. But today, unless you built your name early and people already know you as the “designer for X,” it’s a different game.
So I’m curious:
Monthly recap:
This month didn’t go exactly as planned.
Landed 1 retainer, and it’s going stronger than ever.
What surprised me:
I’ve been getting a lot of “Founding Designer” opportunities.
Feels like founders are starting to realize
conventional hiring doesn’t work anymore.
They don’t need “just a designer.”
They need someone who can craft the product end-to-end:
taste, UX, brand, system, execution, distribution
Less headcount.
More ownership.
Interesting times ahead.
“Most vibe coders don’t care about this as long as the money is printing....”
Until it stops.
When revenue stagnates, that’s when they suddenly need to change :
- Creative direction
- UX & UI Flow
- Branding → marketing angle
it takes time before anyone realised this
Being a founding design partner today isn’t
“I’ll make things look better.”
It’s:
– fixing onboarding so users don’t bounce
– taking features from concept → shipped
– designing dashboards people actually understand
– supporting GTM with social + event assets
Design isn’t a deliverable anymore.
It’s leverage across the entire company.