AI has become a close, personal, nosy friend of mine.
The more I use AI in my workflow the more my personal philosophy starts to form.
1. AI is, and should always be, for everyone. As more companies invest in building their own AI products, the more I see free tier tools get pushed to the sidelines. In my opinion that's a very bad sign. We need more humans in the loop, not for the loop to be exclusive to paying customers.
2. I studied fashion in my first year of college before switching to graphics and the common rule of thumb is "MEASURE TWICE CUT ONCE" and I follow the rule to this day. I let AI do its job and overthink for me when we're planning.
3. I refuse to let AI design for me. Before I even touch visuals, I make it my mission to have a concrete vision of what I want. If you're a person who understands manifestation you've just unlocked the first step of working with AI.
So here's my personal approach that scales *as of Jun 2026
Thanks, Claude!
Prompt I used to generate: "Create a beginner friendly, easy to follow, end to end AI-assisted design workflow/user flow that leverages free tools that are available now or in beta as the first tier. The second tier should be a workflow that uses paid tools are industry standard or the most used."
This personal approach may not solve EVERYTHING but it's great in my current workflow, it's fluid and fast. I use a mix of paid and free tools but I don't have to and that should be the priority. I should be able to stop relying on one tool, switch to another and not lose any or progress.
Tools like Lovable that ask for too many credits way too early will crumble compared to these other tools.
If I had to pick 3...
Personal Projects with AI
BlendLab is a tea blend recommendation app that looks at what's already in your pantry and crafts personalized recipes tailored to your ingredients — no special shopping trips required.
Here's what makes it special:
→ Input what you already have at home
→ Get curated tea blend recipes instantly
→ Discover flavor combinations you'd never think to try
I built this because great tea shouldn't require a specialty store. It should start with what you already have.
Feedback is more than welcome! Happy drinking 🍵
Here's what makes it special:
→ Input what you already have at home
→ Get curated tea blend recipes instantly
→ Discover flavor combinations you'd never think to try
I built this because great tea shouldn't require a specialty store. It should start with what you already have.
Feedback is more than welcome! Happy drinking 🍵
FORIC connects aspiring professionals with experienced industry mentors to help them grow their careers through actionable guidance and feedback.
What FORIC provides:
→ Mentor matching based on career goals and expertise
→ Resume and portfolio reviews
→ Interview preparation and career coaching
→ Structured feedback and progress tracking
→ A simple, accessible path to professional growth
→ Mentor matching based on career goals and expertise
→ Resume and portfolio reviews
→ Interview preparation and career coaching
→ Structured feedback and progress tracking
→ A simple, accessible path to professional growth
Our mission:
Create equitable access to mentorship, helping talented individuals gain the skills, confidence, and guidance needed to succeed—regardless of their network or background.
Create equitable access to mentorship, helping talented individuals gain the skills, confidence, and guidance needed to succeed—regardless of their network or background.
