Clean, Flat-Style
Weekend Dispatch #2
Cliff stopped by my desk Thursday morning. He’d seen my deck for the IT roadmap review.
“It’s good, Norm. Solid. But it needs... a visual. Something that says ‘we’re innovative.’ You know. AI-looking.”
I do know. I know exactly what Cliff means by “AI-looking.” He means futuristic, with a visionary component. I told him I’d handle it.
Let’s do AI then.
Now, I could have used ChatGPT for this. Half the company does. But I don’t use OpenAI. The name alone is a lie, and I don’t trust liars with my data. I use Claude. It’s not open source either, but at least it doesn’t pretend to be.
I typed a simple prompt. Polite, specific, reasonable.
This is what I asked for:
“I want an image of someone seen from the side, seating at their desk and watching at their computer screen while typing.”
Claude responded: “I’d be happy to help! Let me craft a stylish side-view SVG illustration.” Craft. Stylish. Those were the exact words.
This is what I got:
The man has no hands. I didn’t notice at first because I was distracted by his skull, which is shaped like an egg that gave up halfway through being an egg. He’s sitting on what I think is a chair, though it could also be a very confident stick. The coffee mug has no handle. The “steam” is two lines having a disagreement. And there’s a green shape next to the monitor that Claude insists is a desk plant but honestly could be anything. Could be hope. Could be mold.
Claude’s review of its own work: “Here’s a clean, flat-style illustration. It includes some nice details like glasses, a coffee mug with steam, a little desk plant, and colorful code lines.”
Nice details. The man has no hands, but sure — nice details.
I used a stock photo.
Norm works in IT. He has opinions. They are allegedly his own.