Did the camera kill art? Of course not, says our guest David Somerville, it pushed art to new places. Cubism. Impressionism.

“What didn’t happen is art ceased to exist,” he says. “It became about, okay, but now can I paint a feeling?”

David is one of the most creative people we know. He is a designer, creative consultant, game maker, and published Dungeons & Dragons author. (He’s also our first-ever non-Andrew guest. He’s filing paperwork to fix that.)

David’s instinct cuts against the doom take: using AI to do more of the same, faster, is self-defeating. The interesting question is what AI can do that hasn’t been done yet.

A few things from the conversation worth stealing:

* Wonder vs. empathy. Wonder looks at something from the outside (what does it look like?); empathy stands inside it (what does it feel like?). Good work comes in moving between the two.

* “Yes, and” is the whole job. When a client insists the logo has to be blue, David says yes — to the goal — then proposes a different way there. Most bad creative calls are just fear of being wrong.

* Process is a runway, not the whole flight. You need it to take off and to land. In between, you have to actually fly.

We loved every minute of David’s insights about creativity and the creative process, and we hope you do, too. Happy Friday.

—The Andrews

In this episode:

* David Somerville, founder of the creative consulting firm Smrvl™️

* Brand Deck

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