Art Direction as the Future of Design

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As our creative lead, Lucas uses tools like native image gen in ChatGPT and Midjourney to generate the cover images you see every day. He also designs the interfaces for our products—Cora, Spiral, and Sparkle—and makes everything on our site feel as thoughtful and delightful as possible.

It was great to have him on the show to talk about how AI is changing his design process. We get into:

• Why Every’s aesthetic feels familiar and new at the same time. Every’s aesthetic plays with the tension between the old (like Greek statues and Baroque symbols) and the new (like saturated colors and modern motifs) to make the glamor of the past feel fresh.
• Art direction matters more than ever today. As AI makes it easier to generate images, Lucas says the real work of design is shifting toward art direction, specifically, curating an aesthetic that feels “organic;” on his X timeline that’s showing up as clouds, earthy landscapes, and textures.
• Reimagining what a website can be with AI. Lucas compares most websites to identical buildings—predictable, efficient, and forgettable—and wonders how AI can help us break that mold by designing experiences that prioritize serendipity over speed, and curiosity over control.
• Behind the scenes of Cora’s visual aesthetic. How Lucas designed the landing page and launch video for Cora by rooting it in the product’s philosophy: turning the inbox from a source of chaos into something that feels calm, thoughtful—like stepping into spring.
• The future of internet interfaces. Lucas believes the future of digital interfaces will be curated with the same care as a film set or ad campaign, where every detail is chosen with intention.

Lucas also walks us through how he created the headline image for Every’s consulting page—a human and robotic hand fist-bumping—using Midjourney to iterate from rough prompt to polished visual.

This is a must watch for anyone interested in the future of design and making the internet a little more beautiful every day.

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Timestamps:

1. Introduction: 00:01:41
2. How AI changed the course of Lucas’s career: 00:04:02
3. Why Every’s aesthetic feels both familiar and fresh: 00:08:00
4. Why Lucas thinks minimalism is overrated: 00:14:53
5. Art direction matters more than ever in the age of AI: 00:20:38 
6. How to reimagine what a website can be with AI: 00:23:42
7. Lucas’s process in Midjourney to generate cover images: 00:33:08
8. Midjourney v. image generation in ChatGPT: 00:42:30
9. Behind the scenes of Cora’s design language: 00:49:07
10. How AI is rewriting the role of a designer: 00:59:18

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

• Lucas Crespo: @lucas__crespo
• The pieces Lucas has written for Every: “When An AI Tool Finally Gets You”, “A Definitive Guide to Using Midjourney” 
• Dan’s piece on the allocation economy: “The Knowledge Economy Is Over. Welcome to the Allocation Economy”