🙋‍♂️ Life Updates

I was treading water. It was either sink or swim.

A 32 panel template staring me right in the face.

This would eventually become a 3D soccer ball, something I’ve never designed before.

Until this week.

As I reflect on it, I wish I had more of these projects where I feel like I’m out of my league. Imposter syndrome sets in. Problem solve or give up.

We need those challenges. I need them.

🎨 The Creative Mix

Let’s just get this out of the way

I am pro AI. I’m guessing I generated over 2,000 images this week alone. TWO THOUSAND!

Before you turn away… hear me out.

When it comes to visuals, this tool is second to none. “But Matthew, it does all the work for you!” Wrong.

You need to prompt AI with all those lovely and creative thoughts you have in your mind for these programs to develop greatness for you. If you have nothing to give, you will get nothing back.

And as always… just because you know a tutorial or tool, doesn’t make you a great designer. That takes years of practice, hard work, and developing your creative taste.

This isn’t a quick fix life hack. It’s a tool. And when used right, can help you immensely.

Hot take: If you don’t adopt AI now, you will be on the outside looking in 3-5years from now much like the print to digital revolution. Bet on it.

Alright, back to our regularly scheduled program…

[01] Midjourney (Free trials reopened!)

I’m not quite sure how else to explain this… Midjourney is simply a creative pocket genie. That’s it. If you can dream it, it can build it. The best part? It often delivers images that turn out even better than what you had in mind. Now that is magic.

[02] Remove.bg

Before the elephant in the room appears… let me just say it: Photoshops got nothing on this plugin. It is the MVP of masking. In one click. And it’s about 1,000x more accurate. It nails subject masking 99.9% of the time, and the 0.1%? A breeze to tweak. Trust me, your team will thank you for this one. We use it every day… it’s hands down the best investment we’ve made.

[03] Fontjoy

Let’s be honest… font pairing is stressful. Fontjoy keeps it simple, no fluff. One click to generate combos, lock the ones you love, and search their entire font gallery to tweak manually. Work smarter, not harder.

[04] Gigapixel 7

We’ve all been there. You need to blow up an image and it turns into a pixelated blurry mess. Gigapixel has erased that problem. Actually, Topaz Labs entire catalog for video, photo, and design solves all kinds of common issues instantly. Another tool we use every week, and again, this thing is magic.

🚀 Leadership Lab

Micromanaging caps your teams potential.

When you hover, you’re telling your team you don’t trust them.

And that holds back their creativity, their growth… and the entire team’s success.

Your team needs to feel the encouragement & freedom to experiment, innovate, explore, and take risks without fear.

That means having their backs when things don’t go as planned. It’s a learning moment. Fail forward. Take extreme ownership. Your team can’t afford play it safe.

But, yes, you need some guardrails.

Here’s how to give them autonomy without losing accountability:

1. Set the vision: Be clear on the expectations, directions, and goals, but let them figure out the best way to get there.

2. Trust their expertise: You hired them for a reason. Let them show you what they can do.

3. Check in, don’t hover: Set regular touchpoint(s) from the beginning to guide progress, without stifling creativity. (ex. on a 7 day project, have a check-in point at day 3 or 4 to course correct if needed)

4. Be available: Keep your door open for feedback or when they hit roadblocks.

5. Celebrate the wins: Big or small. What gets celebrated gets repeated (Don’t skip this step).

When your team feels trusted and supported, they rise to the challenge.

Give them the space to create—and the accountability to stay on track.

Go crush it this week - you’ve got this!
🐯🎉 Matthew