You're using Midjourney backwards

Give me three minutes to show you:

🤖 How to use Midjourney backwards
👨‍🎤 3 questions you should ask a designer before hiring them
🎬 Inside fake movie Branding

Learning a new skill requires an appreciation for what's come before.

Kevin Garnett and Lebron James entered the NBA as high schoolers with an internet-sized index of knowledge of the Hall of Famers who came before them.

Filmmaker Quentin Tarintino often stylizes his films and produces musical scores that pay respect to his own influences.

They all have studied the output of another's work, learned from it, and remixed it with their own taste.

When I teach people how to draw, I often advocate for simply copying as a way to learn. Author Steven Pressfield used to copy Hemingway's books word for word just to get a feel for his sense of pace and storytelling.

Copying the work of another is like eating a mushroom in Super Mario. It’s the quickest way to level up.

And if you use AI tools like Midjourney, you're able to use a single word to reveal the text prompts to recreate an image. It's like reverse-engineering a piece of art, to help you study and understand your own visual style, even if you have never taken an art class in your life.

The single word is "/describe" and you'll learn how to use it in this week's essay below.

🎨 Better Design Decisions

• ​The secret to designing a fake movie brand​

• For my Canadian friends: ​Beautiful Canadian typograpy​

• ​Hire a designer with these 3 questions​

📸 Make It Yours Moment

What do you stand for, and how do you showcase it? Linear co-founder Karri Saarinen describes how its brand plays a role in the company.

Thanks for showing up this week. Next Sunday I'll describe why confusing your friends and family with what you do is a good thing.

See you next Sunday!