I test the AI tools, design trends, and brand moves marketers are talking about, then tell you what holds up and what doesn’t. Written by the author of the bestselling The Visual Marketer, after 20+ years leading brand, creative, and digital experience marketing teams.
The best genAI image generator is about to break free of its Discord jail
20 September 2023 | Issue #15 |
$200,000,000 annual revenue 14,800,000 users 40 employees $0 from investors These are the current Midjourney stats. And it hasn't hit web browsers yet! How many people do you know that use Discord? Not many, right? According to Influencer Marketing Hub, Discord has just under 200m monthly active users globally. The average age of a Discord user is 16. They are predominantly younger due to the site's initial growth in the gamer market. Because of its original focus on younger users, there is a barrier of entry for others. There are things that are unintuitive about the Discord user interface. But with many apps aimed at younger people, this is a feature, not a bug. In case your sister Tracey is wondering, Midjourney can only be used through Discord. So one of the top platforms for generative AI imagery is limited to usage on a platform that relatively few people use on a global scale. With Midjourney v6, it is expected to be available on web browsers. This means high-quality genAI imagery will soon be available to anyone with a web browser. Other platforms are already available on the web, but expect a wave of press to announce this new availability. Which will lead to more people trying it out. Which leads to more and more genAI imagery. And Midjourney is expecting to have 3D images, high-resolution videos, and even video games created within Midjourney in the next few years. Considering how quickly Midjourney has evolved over the past two years, there's no reason to think it won't be able to create these additional assets in the near future. As crazy as it sounds, we're currently in the stone age of generative AI.
🔥 Nearly Half of CEOs Believe AI Could Replace Their Own Jobs, Says New PollIsn't it something? Almost half of CEOs are contemplating the idea that AI could replace them. And get this, 47% of them actually think it might be a good thing!
🧾 Can You Name The Top 10 GenAI Apps?Speaking of Midjourney, it came in at #8 on this list. It is interesting that it points out that Midjourney was more popular when it was free. Many of these tools are still in their "grow user base by offering the product for free for now" phase. As the space gets more mature, I wonder how the list will
🎥 Meta Working on More Powerful AI System that Will Surpass OpenAI's GPT-4To nobody's suprise, the digital giants are coming for AI. Meta is reportedly developing an AI system that's expected to outperform OpenAI's GPT-4, and it's going to be open-source!
Gartner Hype Cycle for Generative AI, 2023 I was excited to dig into this report. But, it turns out that it's not publicly available yet. As a Gartner subscriber, I can read the report, but I'll hold off on discussing it until others have a chance to consume it. Sorry. Maybe next week I've been doing the initial work for my first course this week. I hope to have something in the next few weeks to help with your career evolution. HOW CAN I HELP YOU?
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Marketing by Design – Design thinking that makes marketing work
I test the AI tools, design trends, and brand moves marketers are talking about, then tell you what holds up and what doesn’t. Written by the author of the bestselling The Visual Marketer, after 20+ years leading brand, creative, and digital experience marketing teams.
09 November 2026 | Issue #139 In this issue: Marketing is your starting pitcher MPB2B Design quote of the week Marketing is Your Starting Pitcher In baseball, the starting pitcher is the star. Fans pick the night they buy tickets around who is on the mound, and an ace can make a game must-see and nearly guarantee a win. Teams pay for it. In 2026, a pitcher was the highest-paid player on 12 of 30 MLB teams, and Zack Wheeler leads the way at $42M. Middle relievers carry the game to the closer,...
26 October 2026 | Issue #138 In this issue: Creativity is less important than consistency Amazing real-world video effects Design quote of the week Why Consistency Beats Creativity in B2B Branding Your audience isn’t nearly as familiar with your brand as you are. And that’s a problem when you’re constantly changing it. Years ago, I worked with a CMO who had a habit of explaining our solution story to the marketing team. Over and over again. He’d stand at a whiteboard or one of the glass walls...
11 October 2026 | Issue #137 In this issue: Avoid these AI design tropes Don't use Muse if you like privacy Design quote of the week I Know You Used AI for Your Design You already know the em dash is a dead giveaway of AI writing (sorry, Ann Handley). Design has its own tells, and there are a lot of them. None of them is wrong on its own. A good writer can use an em dash on purpose, and a good designer can use any pattern below on purpose. They become a tell when they show up because nobody...