I took an excerpt from an interview and laid it out across different design programs, using only the default settings: default typefaces, colors, grids. The idea was simple: I wanted to test how much the software designs when I step back as a designer, or as the “author.” Across all Programms, I hated the process and the results. I felt like a bad designer. It was demotivating, I didn’t want to keep working, I stopped before I was visually satisfied. This usually never happens to me.

I was completely alienated from my output. What made it worse: even with all these constraints, I still had to make decisions—just less informed, less meaningful ones.

At first, I thought this experiment would be about my process. But in the end, it was more about my self-image. It raised questions: What does it mean when I don’t design? Who am I if the outcome is bad? This experiment became a confrontation with my own expectations, ego, and discomfort in letting go of authorship and aesthetic control.

OUTPUT