4 Top Skills All Graphic Designers Should Have in the Age of Automation
21st Century design requires a skillset that transcends drafting and software literacy.
I encounter designers who are spinning their wheels on what to do in the face of AI.
Many perceive AI as an existential threat while income streams from selling stock images and icons get outsourced by tools like Midjourney and DALL-E.
However, designers who are well-versed in a range of technical and analytical tools won’t need to be fearful of being “replaced.”
I will brief four of the top skills designers should hone in while AI technology advances:
I will brief four of the top skills designers should hone in while AI technology advances:
1. Writing
Writing has always been a valuable but overlooked skill for designers.
Most people don’t associate design with language, but all design campaigns need writing to transfer ideas into visual results.
How can you be a good consultant to clients who do not have the same visually-oriented vocabulary?
Your ability to “sketch” concepts in words will be essential in translating concepts to your client.
Improving your writing will facilitate better critique sessions by making your feedback requests and guides clearer. Thus, you may increase your efficacy in branding, content creation, and strategic planning.
Can’t feedback, email drafting, etc. be accomplished with AI?
Yes, you can automate much of your writing with AI tools like Chat GPT: this will be discussed more below. But, I will argue that supplemental use is still more effective than full automation.
Why?
Practicing your writing has been proven to:
To summarize, I’ve inserted a favorite quote by Noam Chomsky on the power of language:
“The fact is that if you have not developed language, you simply don’t have access to most of the human experience, and if you don’t have access to experience, then you’re not going to be able to think properly.”
Writing has always been a valuable but overlooked skill for designers.
Most people don’t associate design with language, but all design campaigns need writing to transfer ideas into visual results.
How can you be a good consultant to clients who do not have the same visually-oriented vocabulary?
Your ability to “sketch” concepts in words will be essential in translating concepts to your client.
Improving your writing will facilitate better critique sessions by making your feedback requests and guides clearer. Thus, you may increase your efficacy in branding, content creation, and strategic planning.
Can’t feedback, email drafting, etc. be accomplished with AI?
Yes, you can automate much of your writing with AI tools like Chat GPT: this will be discussed more below. But, I will argue that supplemental use is still more effective than full automation.
Why?
Practicing your writing has been proven to:
- Improve vocabulary
- Increase verbal capabilities
- Enhance communication skills
- Strengthen cognitive function
To summarize, I’ve inserted a favorite quote by Noam Chomsky on the power of language:
“The fact is that if you have not developed language, you simply don’t have access to most of the human experience, and if you don’t have access to experience, then you’re not going to be able to think properly.”
2. Customer Service
It wasn’t until I started freelancing that the years of working behind a retail desk and nannying while in school felt more valuable than any paramount certificate program.
Especially in the post-Covid era, there’s been a significant increase in automated and virtual services. Though chatbots and virtual desk attendants have circumvented many inefficiencies associated with face-to-face service, people still seek a personalized experience when producing the face of their business or campaign.
The vast majority of business owners want to put the task of their business's identity in human hands.
Whether or not an AI interface could theoretically get you to a similar endpoint, the creative process in a client/designer relationship is highly collaborative and requires patience, empathy, and provocative questions that aren’t available (at least for now) through an AI.
The ability to gauge how the client is feeling and intuit their needs will be prized over technical skill and credentials alone. As a graphic designer, you can act as a technician and artist in the same right.
The Cafe Case Study for Customer Service:
It wasn’t until I started freelancing that the years of working behind a retail desk and nannying while in school felt more valuable than any paramount certificate program.
Especially in the post-Covid era, there’s been a significant increase in automated and virtual services. Though chatbots and virtual desk attendants have circumvented many inefficiencies associated with face-to-face service, people still seek a personalized experience when producing the face of their business or campaign.
The vast majority of business owners want to put the task of their business's identity in human hands.
Whether or not an AI interface could theoretically get you to a similar endpoint, the creative process in a client/designer relationship is highly collaborative and requires patience, empathy, and provocative questions that aren’t available (at least for now) through an AI.
The ability to gauge how the client is feeling and intuit their needs will be prized over technical skill and credentials alone. As a graphic designer, you can act as a technician and artist in the same right.
The Cafe Case Study for Customer Service:
Poor or robotic service will leave the client exhausted and wondering why they didn’t outsource somewhere else. (Image: Author’s illustration)
Good service leaves clients feeling satisfied and energized. (Image: Author’s illustration)
Please disregard the sketchy quality of the above illustrations . . . they were done in a cafe.
3. Strategic Thinking
Strategic thinking is the ability to analyze information, identify patterns and relationships, and develop a plan of action that aligns with an organization’s goals and objectives.
Consider the people in your life who are good at coming up with plans that are good for the group despite the chaos of different ideas within a collection of people. They execute with precision while balancing the needs and wants of other people, but most importantly, they make a decision.
There’s an air of confidence and clearheadedness to strategic thinking. An organized and well-informed consultant will be able to think on their feet and know how to ask the right questions.
Consistently updating your knowledge of new tools and keeping up with your creative practices will give you more immediate intuition of how to strategize for a given project.
Independent thinkers are not overly reliant on external guides (Chat GPT, cough cough) and can more consistently produce viable design strategies.
This last one may not surprise you . . .
Strategic thinking is the ability to analyze information, identify patterns and relationships, and develop a plan of action that aligns with an organization’s goals and objectives.
Consider the people in your life who are good at coming up with plans that are good for the group despite the chaos of different ideas within a collection of people. They execute with precision while balancing the needs and wants of other people, but most importantly, they make a decision.
There’s an air of confidence and clearheadedness to strategic thinking. An organized and well-informed consultant will be able to think on their feet and know how to ask the right questions.
Consistently updating your knowledge of new tools and keeping up with your creative practices will give you more immediate intuition of how to strategize for a given project.
Independent thinkers are not overly reliant on external guides (Chat GPT, cough cough) and can more consistently produce viable design strategies.
This last one may not surprise you . . .
4. Integration of AI into your workflow
Some readers may wonder why this wasn’t at the top of the list — others may be peeved it’s even on the list.
The truth is, there is much to be gained as a designer if you can construct workflows that preserve your personal style and touch while automating some of the administrative and repetitive tasks.
Top tools and integrations I use as a graphic designer:
I plan to delve deeper into the specifics of AI integration into graphic design throughout my Freelancer Guide Series:
Top 4 Contract Mistakes You’re Probably Making and How to Fix Them
Chat GPT Unleashed: The Battle Between Innovation and Artistry
Some readers may wonder why this wasn’t at the top of the list — others may be peeved it’s even on the list.
The truth is, there is much to be gained as a designer if you can construct workflows that preserve your personal style and touch while automating some of the administrative and repetitive tasks.
Top tools and integrations I use as a graphic designer:
- Stability Photoshop Plugin: I like to use this to test details with drafts that are around 70–80% finished
- DALL-E for on-the-fly idea generation. I’ve never been able to get a product from a prompt, but I find the tool useful to
- Chat GPT to help me with titles and wording for tricky copy like contracts, where I am trying to both be polite and forward.
I plan to delve deeper into the specifics of AI integration into graphic design throughout my Freelancer Guide Series:
Top 4 Contract Mistakes You’re Probably Making and How to Fix Them
Chat GPT Unleashed: The Battle Between Innovation and Artistry
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