Why Designers Keep Writing in the Age of AI
1. Writing helps you discover your own thoughts
What changed while building up 100 design articles was not only writing skill, but also the way of understanding myself.
- The record continued from 2022 preserved the experiences and emotions of the time and became an asset for comparing past and present thoughts.
- Even if AI quickly completes writing, the process of organizing what you believe and why you think that way is worth experiencing firsthand.
- In the friction of getting stuck on sentences and revising them again, your perspective becomes concrete.
2. To write for a long time, you need personal reasons and a rhythm of life
Sustainable writing begins with experiences you want to remember and an environment you can repeat.
- Motivation: The starting point was the desire not to forget what happened in my career and to leave it for my future self.
- Environment: At night after the children fell asleep, I wrote on my smartphone and found time that fit my life.
- I kept the tools simple and created a rhythm of organizing my thoughts one article every two weeks.
- Forgiveness: I accept days when the writing does not flow and drafts that never get completed.
- Rather than filling blocked time with text generated by AI, choosing to set it aside for a while is also necessary.
3. A personal voice grows from honest experiences and enjoyment
The more consistently you explore questions you are curious about, the more the individuality of the writing emerges.
- Voice: Rather than trying to reproduce one viral hit, I write about topics that are on my mind now as a designer.
- Authenticity: I do not dilute my perspective while trying to satisfy everyone.
- I look at valid opinions in criticism, but I do not give up my viewpoint just because there is a reaction.
- Enjoyment: Unexpected associations, everyday conversations, and light experiments also become starting points for writing.
4. Personal records lead to colleagues and new opportunities
Writing makes it possible for other designers to discover your thoughts and start a conversation.
- Community: By sharing experiences and perspectives, I met colleagues outside my region and organization.
- Writing about design also led to opportunities such as participating as a speaker at the Tallinn Design Festival.
- Keeping a concrete record of your own experiences becomes a point of connection with someone else.