Design Gist

Designing for public life

[Design Gist @designgistpod]

A moment from Design Gist. Full episode out now 🎧
https://t.co/w2AbMc08pi

[Google Workspace @GoogleWorkspace]

Introducing Google Pics 🎨 Precise, powerful AI image creation is rolling out now to Google Workspace customers and Google AI Pro & Ultra subscribers.

Google Pics lets you edit individual objects, refine or translate text, and collaborate with your team.

Try it at https://t.co/jYcA6yKUDM.

[Dennis Obaro the UI/UX KING @thedennisobaro1]

A warning to all designers

I'm seeing a dangerous trend on LinkedIn and X, and I need to call it out.

In trying to prove you can "design and build with AI," designers are oversimplifying the process. And it's backfiring badly.

What I'm seeing:

"I built an entire app in seconds with AI."
"You don't need to give any input, AI handles everything."
"Designed and shipped in hours with no effort."

Imagine you're a potential client reading that. Why would you hire a designer if it sounds like they did nothing? Like AI did all the work?

Here's the reality:

Anyone who's actually built something with AI knows the truth. The work is immense.

You need to:

- Write detailed PRDs and briefs
- Know which AI tools solve which problems
- Run commands in the terminal
- Manage API tokens and costs
- Make countless design iterations
- Test, refine, validate
- Make critical decisions at every step

This isn't automation. This is strategy disguised as simplicity.

The damage you're doing:

By making it sound effortless, you're training clients to think designers are obsolete. You're undercutting your own value.

What you should actually communicate:

"I used AI strategically to accelerate execution while maintaining my standards. Here's the thinking behind the decisions. Here's what I refined. Here's the work that went into this."

That's the message that gets clients excited. That's what justifies the rate.

Remember:

Your critical thinking is still essential. Your judgment still matters. Your ability to see what AI missed, that's irreplaceable.

Don't sell yourself short trying to sound impressive. Show the actual work. Show the thinking.

That's what makes you valuable.

[Design Gist @designgistpod]

This 💯

[Dozer🚜 @kvdozer]

When the viewer's eyes are made to dart around the screen to follow three different serif fonts with variable boldness and italicization per-word, we aren't even able to form an impression on your scene. The scene hardly even matters actually, a gorilla could walk through it and we wouldn't notice

The prevailing impression in the eyes of the viewer is that you have a Creative Cloud subscription and used it on every frame you could- not exactly whimsical

[Design Gist @designgistpod]

Listen on Spotify 🎧

https://t.co/Sg53HwDlfW

[Design Gist @designgistpod]

It took him 5 days to make.
AI recreated it in 2 hours.

This week on Design Gist, @irapps_ae joins us to talk through the AI/motion design debate everyone’s been discussing, from his side of things.

🎧 Link below.

[esoteric passion project @ennyirl]

very insightful discussion I was happy to host on the AI and motion design debate with Irapada.

worth a listen

[Design Gist @designgistpod]

Watch on Spotify: https://t.co/SbiQb7y7fa

or follow us on Substack for more: https://t.co/WK4o5PtVRg

[Design Gist @designgistpod]

It took him 5 days to make.
AI recreated it in 2 hours.

This week on Design Gist, @irapps_ae joins us to talk through the AI/motion design debate everyone’s been discussing, from his side of things.

🎧 Link below.

[Oriola Basit @BasitOriola]

Overlooked niches in design nobody talks about

Pharmaceutical packaging: strict regulations, almost no creative competition

Wayfinding design: airports, hospitals, campuses pay well and rarely find specialists

Agricultural branding: millions of farms, cooperatives and FMCG staples with zero design investment

Technical illustration: engineering manuals, exploded diagrams, medical visuals. Rare skill, high demand

When logo space has 10,000 designers. These spaces have ten.

[The kikọ script @kikoscript]

A Yorùbá crossword puzzle concept in the Kikọ script. Built around Yorùbá's syllable structure, Kikọ lets you write consonant–vowel pairings, apply tones, and add nasal marks within a single character block.

Can you find the names? If your name among? drop a comment.

[Novemh @Novemhv]

Built on @markessien’s Nigeria2 election API.

I already had Africa Growth Lens (World Bank WDI for African economies), so I paired his 2019/2023 presidential evidence with economic indicators by presidential regime.

Dashboard:
https://t.co/pMWhAbfkT0
Elections have consequences, Check it out!

[esoteric passion project @ennyirl]

our conferences need to include more workshops, ideation sprints than panel sessions

[Quizant @QuizantTech]

Most students don't fail JAMB because they didn't study. They fail because they studied the wrong way.

Quizant finds your weak spots, tells you exactly where to focus, and helps you build confidence for exam day.

Get early access for free at https://t.co/Kb2MG2CEoi
#JAMB #UTME

[Quizant @QuizantTech]

Real JAMB questions. All in one place.

Quizant gives you access to past UTME questions across all your subjects. You can move through them at your own pace, any time, on your phone.

Early access is free 👇
https://t.co/Kb2MG2CEoi
#JAMB #UTMEprep #PastQuestions #NigerianStudents

[Design Gist @designgistpod]

Just wrapped up our first interview for our JAMB research series: chatting with real students, hearing their stories firsthand. More conversations coming🎙️

[Akintola Steve @Akintola_steve]

We keep building products for Nigeria using standards designed for someone in San Francisco sitting on 1 Gbps fiber.
Then we wonder why adoption is low outside Lagos.
Your next feature is not what will grow your product in Nigeria, making it actually work for the person in Kaduna with 2 bars of network is what will.

Bookmark this thread; if you're building anything for the African market, this is not optional reading.

NB: Fictional scenario, real technical lessons.

[Design Gist @designgistpod]

@adeleke5140 This!

[longjohn @orevbajohn_]

Had a mini AI Vs framer challenge with @IwuezeAmarachi to build this landing page out here is my implementation https://t.co/I0JTZlQvUP

[Ghudy | AI, Design & Framer @design_ghudy]

My submission...

[Design Gist @designgistpod]

@itzareous 😭