Dan - from Dan Design

Publicly exploring all the ways a one man design shop can use and leverage AI. The good and the bad.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

When I was starting out, I thought being a pro meant every client got the exact same experience.

Same emails, meeting cadence, approval process.

I’d basically say, ‘This is my system. Follow it.’

And then, inevitably, everything would start to feel messy half way through.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

"Yes!!! show me push notifications." - said no one ever.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

Stop offering two rounds of revisions to your clients!!!

When you offer 2, 3, 4 rounds of revisions in your contract, you're literally telling your client to evaluate your effort and NOT the results.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

"Can you make it pop?"

Ugh... who else has been tempted to make it neon green with a rainbow drop shadow?

Took me a long time in my early days of freelancing to learn that when a client says 'Make It Pop,' it isn't a design critique. I

It was a warning bell...

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

Google BUTCHERED Gemini with 3.5 for writing.

I'd been exclusively using Gemini for the past year, but dang, is it painful anymore.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

Stop giving your design clients "three options" to choose from.

By offering concepts, you are literally telling them: "I'm going to try to GUESS what you like three separate times."

You're inviting a non-designer to play Art Director.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

You're asking people to trust and hire you based on a $99 website template?

Put another way, you're expecting to hit $1mil in revenue off a $100 investment...

Think about that for a second.

That's a 999,990% ROI.

That doesn't happen. Ever.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

@thefinnmckenty @doronstudio It's like having a fully paid unlimited Shutterstock subscription in the early 2000s. Limitless assets to do whatever you want with.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

If you’re still trying to close new clients using the brand identity you put together back when you were just starting out... you’re making life (growth) harder than it needs to be.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

@madebywild @claudeai @figmaweave @active_theory This is freaking brilliant!!! Absolutely love this!

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

@thefinnmckenty @kevintwohy And that's if the swatch book is less than 3 years old. Older than that and the pigment can fade or shift. Freaking hate Pantone.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

@Krishsurya3123 @GeminiApp I mean, seems like you really have to make it clear that it's lying before it'll stop.

But its annoying to prompt this way.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

@GeminiApp is about to become UTTERLY USELESS if they don't fix this asap.

I spent 30 minutes getting gaslit.

I uploaded a screenshot.
I asked it if it could see it and describe it.

It went on to make things up 5xs in a row.

Just lying.

And then... finally. I said this...

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

Design is not decoration. It is a strategic business asset that dictates revenue.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

Before a user reads a single word, your design has already told them if you are an expert or an amateur.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

The "feel" humans get is more powerful than what they read.

Before they read a word, the DESIGN has already told them if you are an expert.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

@Barbara_Chira This is such a neat look!

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

I'm running into more bugs with gpt.

I'm seriously considering switching to Gemini for the llm and midjourney for image generation.

And reason I shouldn't?

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

Another gpt prompt

You can view the prompt inside the alt of the couple jogging.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

After an hour of back and forth trying everything under the sun to keep gpt from ALSO revising my json prompt after each submission, here's where we ended.

The smartest dumbest software in human history.

[Dan - from Dan Design @ByDanCo]

Create this character set using the json prompt in the alt text of the shark image using ChatGPT

But... Beware.

See the reply for the laugh.