Software Problems

A series that started as one dry joke about design culture.

Generative AI · Visual Metaphor · Cultural Commentary · Editorial Design

CONTEXT

I didn’t plan a series. I typed a joke into a prompt, the kind designers mutter when a meeting gets too earnest: “psst… agile doesn’t mean fast.” The image that came back was sharp enough that I tried another one. A few prompts in, I had a tone.

APPROACH

Design culture is loud: frameworks, opinions, buzzwords. The truths designers actually live with are quieter. Some friction helps. Some planning is necessary. Some mess is productive. You don’t announce those in a meeting. You whisper them to the person next to you in critique.

So every prompt started with “psst,” followed by one of those truths. The images came back as small surreal metaphors, with a warm palette, one object in focus, and a straight face.

OUTCOME

What surprised me was how well the model handled quiet sarcasm. Give it a literal prompt and it draws literally. Give it a contradiction, a half-truth or a whispered joke, and it gets interesting.

The words are mine and the images are the model’s. Together they say things I’d been carrying around for years.

RELATED WORK

The full series, with the prompt behind each image.