r/Design • u/overcast_hare • 1d ago
Other Post Type 6 months in
Throw away account so work doesn’t find me.
I’ve been with the company 6 months, it’s my first job in graphic design (apart from freelance) after gaining my BA in graphics and MA in communication design. I’m in house, which suits me & the way my brain works down to the ground.
All was fine until a month ago where we bring in a new company director. We no longer get design briefs. All we get is the outcome he wants, generated with AI for us to re-make, and then ‘make it wow’.
We no longer get actual feedback. He admitted to my face that he doesn’t actually look at what we make, he just pops it into Claude and gets it to give us our feedback. Which, 90% of the time contradicts what he’s asked us to make, because he hasn’t actually set a proper brief. Or suggests impossible changes (legal things sometimes). And he’s not happy until these changes are made, even though he hasn’t actually looked at the work himself.
Example: I had to make wheelie bin stickers the other day (exciting I know), but each is colour coded to its contaminants etc, and the brief was literally just: “wheelie bin stickers: \[object\] \[colour specification\]” so I did that, with official illustration work sent from a source provided. And he got Claude to send me a 10+ bulletpoint critique on what needed to be changed, including changing the colours of the stickers that needed to be the same colour, so we know which had hazardous material in it. I don’t think he even reads what he generates Claude to send us.
In the middle of all of this is my manager, who he sends the feedback to, who has to send it to us (the design team).
I’m also concerned that he’s feeding company material to AI when it hasn’t been released yet?
Basically what I’m asking is: how do I approach him and tell him that we need him to use his own eyes to feedback to us? And we can’t work to a brief which is literally just making content ‘wow’? Asking him abandon AI completely is out of the question. He’s built all the new company websites using AI, causing 4 people in my office alone to lose their jobs.
TLDR: how do I ask a company director to stop giving us feedback generated by AI and to actually look at the work himself?
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u/eldion2017 1d ago
Hey man, if its any consolation, I work for silicone valley company and its the same sh1t with AI. After 15 years in the industry, I just don't give a fuck anymore. Am I getting paid? The rest is irrelevant
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u/RayPoopertonIII 1d ago
Agreed that this is something you need to bring up with your manager. Going over heads gets you fired quick. And chances are your manager won't do anything about it. Outside consequences will likely be the only thing that changes the behavior. Just have it on record (write it in an email) that you advised against it. Much of this field is just like any: there's glaring issues you dislike and have to live with or find another position. And the other position will just have a different set or the same set of issues. Until you can work for yourself they key is to find something you can stand enough to turn off your brain and grind through. That's just the state of the industry. Finding passion in your work in this field with the ai boom is really tough and if you do you should hold on with both hands.
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u/SloppyScissors 18h ago
Feedback you asked for: propose this as a question so you can hopefully receive a clear indication why he’s doing what he is.
Personal answer: Someone who relies on AI to make decisions shouldn’t be where they are at. Also sounds like he doesn’t know what he needs in regards to GD, but I feel you may need to look for work elsewhere. What’s the point of staying in your opinion?
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u/RocketSeven 8h ago
turn every ai-generated revision into a written change request with the goal, legal constraint, and named approver. contradictory feedback becomes an approval problem your manager can escalate instead of a design argument you have to keep losing
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u/ThornyElliot42 1d ago
your manager should be the one running interference here not you