Canva's Magic Studio, its AI suite of enhancements, has been used over 6.5 BILLION times since the add-on was introduced in October of last year.
I bet you have strong feelings about Canva. As someone who reads this newsletter, I bet you either love or hate Canva. Either way, I get it.
For some of you, Canva is ruining the design industry. For others of you, Canva allows you to create your own graphics without bothering (or bothering with) a designer.
You're both right.
For those who complain that visuals generated from Canva are garbage, you're partially right. We've also seen garbage visuals come from Photoshop.
Knowing how to use design tools does not mean you know design.
Bad visuals are not the fault of the tools. It's the fault of the person using the tool.
This also applies to A.I.-generated visuals. Many of them are garbage. Any tool in the hands of a master can create something great. Even a tool like A.I.
My buddy from the RISE community, Frank Prendergast, makes amazing visuals with A.I.. It helps that he's someone with a fantastic understanding of how to create engaging visuals.
I bet if he used Canva, the results would be equally good.
Canva has been on an incredible run lately. It has added 95 million new users in the 18 months since it introduced its workplace suite. If you work in an enterprise setting, there's a good chance that you already have access to Canva since teams in 95% of the Fortune 500 use Canva.
If you are a designer in one of these workplaces, it's important to know you can't fight gravity. Work with these leaders to build out templates and assets to ensure that the people who are using Canva are creating content that is on-brand.
This will help maintain your position within the business that you are the go-to person for visual assets. You may not be creating the actual work, but you become more valuable when you're able to scale across dozens or hundreds of people.
Trust me, you'll get further if you're collaborative than if you just demand that everyone does it your way.
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NEWS AT THE INTERSECTION OF MARKETING, DESIGN, & AI
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🤕 How Generative AI is Remaking UI/UX Design
Andreessen Horowitz delves into how generative AI is transforming UI/UX design, highlighting why this tech evolution is pivotal for designers looking to stay at the cutting edge. By leveraging AI, designers can now shorten the time from concept to application, making the entire design process more efficient and innovative.
• Adaptive Design Systems: Generative AI can create design systems that evolve based on real-time user interactions, making the design process more dynamic and responsive.
• Collaborative Creativity: AI tools are enabling designers to collaborate with AI as a creative partner, pushing the boundaries of traditional design methods and sparking new ideas that might not have emerged otherwise.
Keep reading
🤕 What Skills and States Boost AI Salaries the Most?
Design News explores the key skills and locations that significantly impact AI salaries, shedding light on what AI professionals need to know to maximize their earning potential. By understanding these factors, designers can better position themselves in the competitive AI job market.
• Critical Technical Skills: Proficiency in machine learning, natural language processing, and data science are the top skills that can boost an AI professional’s salary significantly.
• Geographic Advantage: AI professionals in states like California, New York, and Washington tend to have the highest salaries, making location a crucial factor in earning potential.
Keep reading
Affiliate of the Week: Elementor
A year ago I subscribed to Elementor when I was building out the first version of the After Design site. I had looked at some sites I liked, looked at the code, and saw that a couple of them were using Elementor.
Since then, updating my site has been so easy.
If you're looking to upgrade your WordPress site, I recommend using Elementor.
I'm hiring!
If you're a UX/UI designer, I'm looking for some help with projects. I'm looking for someone who has flexibility with their schedule and can help us out when things get busy. We already have three designers who handle different projects our team produces. But we're looking to take on even more work in the new fiscal year starting in July.
The ideal candidate will be able to take on flexible projects as they come in. Some weeks will be busier than others.
If you're interested, or if you have someone you'd recommend, please hit reply and let me know.