The Technology is New. The Judgement Isn't.

I've been a designer for over 30 years. In that time I've seen the industry transformed by technology more times than I can count. Desktop publishing. Digital. Social. Each shift created anxiety in the industry. Each one also created opportunity - for the people willing to engage with it properly rather than wait for it to pass.

AI is no different. Except that this time the pace of change is faster and the implications are broader than anything that's come before.

In November 2025 I enrolled on a Masters in Generative AI for Creatives at LABASAD - The Barcelona School of Art and Design. Not because I was worried about being left behind. But because I wanted to understand it properly. To learn how to use it with the same rigour and intention I bring to everything else I do.

I'm halfway through the course. And what I'm finding is both surprising and completely predictable at the same time.

The surprising part: how much creative thinking the technology demands. There's a widespread assumption that AI makes things easier - that you type something in and a finished result comes out. The reality is very different. Prompting well is a genuine skill. Knowing what to ask for, how to frame it, how to iterate, when to push further and when to stop - these are not things you pick up in an afternoon. They require the same kind of considered, intentional thinking that good design has always required.

The predictable part: the quality of what you get out is directly proportional to the quality of thinking you put in. That has always been true of every creative tool. AI is no exception.

What I'm developing through the course is not just technical fluency with a new set of tools. It's an understanding of how to integrate AI into a creative workflow in a way that enhances the work rather than replacing the thinking behind it. How to use it to explore directions quickly. How to art direct it the way you'd art direct a photographer or an illustrator. How to combine AI-generated assets with considered typography, brand consistency and a clear creative idea.

Anyone can generate an image. Not everyone can brief one. Not everyone knows what good looks like, or why one output feels considered and another feels generic. Not everyone has spent three decades understanding how visual language works - how type sits on a page, how colour carries meaning, how a brand idea needs to express itself consistently across every touchpoint.

The technology is new. The judgement isn't.

I'm not finished learning - and I'll be sharing more work as the course progresses. But I'm already confident that AI in experienced hands produces something fundamentally different to AI on its own.

If you're a brand that's curious about what this could do for you — I'd love to talk.