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Craft6 min read

AI will commoditize the mediocre. The way through is not more output — it is more taste.

Ines Bello

Design Director

Craft is a moat

The temptation of infinite output is that speed feels like leverage. But speed without taste produces landfill.

Every product our clients love has one owner who protects the level of finish — the person who says no when it is fine and everyone else is tired.

Taste is a rate-limiter, on purpose

In an AI-saturated market, the constraint is not generation. It is judgement. The teams that will compound value are the ones that can sit with an option for three days and know it is not the right one — and then do something about it.

A studio wall with printed comps and marker annotations
The Wednesday review — where the veto lives.
The wise designer says no to things that are fine.

If you want a durable brand, put the person with the veto in the room, give them a title, and make their veto binding. That single change beats another round of brainstorming every time.

Tags ·craftaitaste
Ines Bello

About the author

Ines Bello

Design Director

Editorial obsessive. Awwwards jury 2024.

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