I remember in art class as a kid how badly I wanted to learn to draw, and to do it well. No matter how hard I tried, it just wouldn't stick. Granted, I was in 4th grade, and maybe if I'd kept at it, I would have gotten better.
But there was this other kid I was friends with who could draw amazing Dragon Ball Z characters. It was amazing to watch. I tried it. He taught me his way. I still couldn't get it.
So what is that? Some people have it, and some don't?
Here's what makes me think the question is real. Look at all the AI ads and AI designs and AI websites right now. Something never feels right. I use AI myself, and only a few times does it really get there. Most people can spot an AI flyer from a mile away.
If taste were just knowledge, AI would have it. It has all the knowledge there is. But everybody can feel something is off, even if they can't name what.
I recently clicked an ad for a website because I was curious. Really good layout. Then I got bombarded with highlighter green and a pile of AI-generated images. I'm certain that person is thinking they saved so much money. With green that bright, the only traffic they're getting is moths.
To be fair, some AI work does land. My own site is part AI, part me. The difference is the hours. The ones that work are the ones where somebody kept going back and refining until it stopped looking generated.
And that's not AI's fault. It's a tool. Since I've worked with it so much I know it does better with systems and deep refinement, over and over, repetition. That's exactly what a business doesn't have time for. So they'll have it build a website with no context, then maybe say add this color, and call it done.
Which makes me think the process of design isn't lost because of AI. It changed. You still have to ideate. You still have to see what colors work, what fonts, and why you chose them, and how someone actually moves through the app or the site or the flyer.
For me, I lean simple and lean and visually pleasing. Visual comes first. That's just how my brain works. So whenever I'm designing something, I see it first. How it looks, the colors, the font. Then naturally I get to the rest. How does this feel to use? How would someone flow through this app? What is the user actually trying to do? Because I'm visual, I end up running through the website or the app in my head over and over until it works. That's me working with things that come natural, and other things I had to earn.
That kid could draw those Dragon Ball Z characters because he'd drawn them a hundred times. I'd drawn them twice.
The sword is much better suited for someone who knows how to use it. Someone else can pick it up and still cut things. It just won't be refined.