You were taught to draw. Now AI does it faster. What does that mean for your future as a designer?

Amy Hawke started with paper.

Rendering by hand. Drafting boards. Touching every line.

Now she’s watching tools like SketchUp and AI redraw the creative process.

And to be honest, it hurts.

Not because she’s anti-tech—

But because she’s searching for the soul that made her fall in love with design in the first place.

If you’re a designer, you’ve probably felt this too.

You care about your craft.

You want to create things that move people.

And deep down, you want your work to matter—for your clients, and for the planet.

Here’s what Amy reminds us:

Design is about experience, not just efficiency

Manaakitanga is what grounds us—people, not programs

We can’t lose the human touch chasing machine speed

I love building tools for people like Amy with Critical.

Products made from 100% recycled plastic.

Low carbon. Spec-friendly. Made to be felt.

For creatives who don’t just want to keep up with change—

They want to shape it.

What part of your process do you never want AI to take away?

Reply in the comments. Let’s have that kōrero.

If you’re looking for materials that meet your standards for ethics, performance and aesthetics— You know where to find us.

criticaldesign.nz