I’m not a designer, but I hire many and use AI design tools daily. First, some advice for early-career designers. Second, what I look for when hiring a designer.
Designers – Early Career
Wondering if it’s worth getting into design in the age of GenAI? Yes—but the game has changed.
The rise of GenAI in visual creation is similar to when photography emerged. People feared traditional painting would become obsolete. It didn’t. Instead, artists evolved. They embraced the new medium. The same is now true with GenAI.
To thrive as a designer today, you need to treat GenAI like a new medium. That means mastering how to prompt, how to combine models, and how to iterate and refine AI-generated outputs. It’s a craft in itself.
Where to Start
- Talk to someone in the field. A mentor. A career coach. A designer who’s successfully using AI. Can’t find anyone? Use AI. Role-play with it. One of the best AI career coaches I’ve seen was built by a member of my AI for HR Mastermind: 👉 Pathways: Career Clarity Speak to it like a real coach—share your goals, doubts, and background. But always verify what it tells you. AI has no understanding, just access to massive knowledge. It’s a tool, not a guide. And remember: don’t share anything sensitive or incriminating—cloud providers can be compromised.
- Explore tools. Pick one or two GenAI tools and push them to their limits. Learn where they excel and where your human judgment makes the difference. Being able to evaluate and guide the output is the new edge for designers.
- Articulate your value. Clients now expect designers to either:
- Deliver better work than GenAI
- Or leverage GenAI to work faster, cheaper, or more creatively
Tools Worth Exploring
- Lovable (affiliate link)
- Leonardo.ai
- Figma AI
- Canva AI
Pay for a month, go deep, and test their limits.
Designers – AI-Enabled
I’ll expand this later, but here’s the core:
What I’m looking for in a designer today is someone who can:
- Write high-quality, brand-aligned prompts for AI image generation
- Help define a “prompt library” that captures the aesthetic of our brand
- Step in to polish, adjust, or reject AI outputs when they fall short
- Push back and hold the creative line—pointing out flaws I might miss
This is not about replacing your creativity—it’s about scaling it through mastery of tools.
Keys
- Treat GenAI as a new medium, not a threat
- Master prompting, evaluation, and iteration
- Your job is shifting from creator to curator-director
- Learn the tools deeply—your skill is in guiding and judging them
- Stand out by articulating how you use AI better than others
