sometimes chatgpt is the best graphic designer, in a pinch
It’s been almost 3 years since chatgpt’s public launch, yet users still don’t know how to use it. I feel it boils down to one behavior: consumers expect ai to do everything for them, instead of understanding that it’s meant to help and assist them.
ai can do a lot of stuff for you. but, blindly expecting perfect results from a prompt that probably looks like a basic google search will quickly tamper any of your expectations.
Recently, I decided to step into the shoes of a typical chatgpt user: I needed a refreshed linkedin banner. my current one (at the time) was made from a grab bag of Canva pro elements that I felt defined my core interests and hobbies. it got the job done, but that’s about it. there was nothing personal about my banner, it felt disjointed and scattered: there was no soul to it. you could imagine the look on my face after proudly finishing up my design only to see someone else using the exact same background for their profile.
my Linkedin banner prior to an ai redesign
so, I opened a new chat window and prompted something along the lines of wanting a new LinkedIn banner, gave it the specific dimensions to adhere to, and some stylistic choices. I don’t have this prompt saved because the generated image was so bad I just deleted the entire chat history. I was that annoyed. and I’m sure that’s probably where most consumers would have given up, too.
After a sip of water, I restructured my approach to something more modular: have chatgpt just create the icons I wanted, and then design my banner to my own liking. and guess what? it worked flawlessly.
updated linkedin banner with ai generated icons, prompted and designed by me
My first prompt was ‘I want to generate a few icons. The style I am going for is old school tattoo, slight depth almost at a 2.5d. Can you generate a Gameboy DMG in this style?’ it nailed it, so much so I didn’t have to tune the image generator after. 6 icons and 2 packs of miscellaneous flash tattoos later, I had everything I needed to start putting my own puzzle pieces together.
so, what did I even learn?
ai is a helper. not a doer.
don’t give a google search prompt to chatgpt
lean into your existing strengths and have ai help you with what you suck at, seriously. (have you read my blog about how I didn’t even know what colors to pick to design this site?)