I’ve been speaking to a lot of creatives lately, and it’s clear across the board, times are tough. Budgets are being cut, work is drying up and people are worried. Small creative agencies seem to be closing quicker than I can devour a Mars bar (nothing to do with shrink-flation, although could be hormonal related). 

So, what is causing it? Well, you know I like to avoid politics…so we’ll just leave that there and read between the lines. And AI? Well, we’ll do the same. 

I know, you’re probably bored of the conversation, but aren’t you equally bored of the same content being shared over and over again?

You know the poster, you’ve probably seen it a million times, but each time it is for a different business. While I’m under no illusion that AI is here, and here to stay, I do believe that just because we have access to it, doesn’t mean we should use it. 

I attended the Right Aligned event in Leeds a couple of weeks ago, really well organised, with some excellent speakers. The thing that stuck in my mind was a question from an audience member ‘What do you do when you have a blank page and no ideas?’. The usual (somewhat wanky) answers came up, y’know, go for a walk, read a book etc…but it’s been on my mind ever since, like what DO I actually do? 

We’ve been around for a bit; in fact, when someone asks me how long I’ve been a designer, it haunts me to think it’s been over 14 years. In my heart I’m still in my early 20s. Art is my Career (AIMC) has existed since Covid (do we still measure time based on when Covid was?!).