Product Fridays

The Andrews

Andrew McGill and Andrew Phelps talk creativity, emerging tech, and the art of building great products. Subscribe for weekly inspiration and insights. productfridays.substack.com

  1. AI doesn't kill art. It moves the goalposts.

    4d ago

    AI doesn't kill art. It moves the goalposts.

    Did the camera kill art? Of course not, says our guest David Somerville, it pushed art to new places. Cubism. Impressionism. “What didn’t happen is art ceased to exist,” he says. “It became about, okay, but now can I paint a feeling?” David is one of the most creative people we know. He is a designer, creative consultant, game maker, and published Dungeons & Dragons author. (He’s also our first-ever non-Andrew guest. He’s filing paperwork to fix that.) David’s instinct cuts against the doom take: using AI to do more of the same, faster, is self-defeating. The interesting question is what AI can do that hasn’t been done yet. A few things from the conversation worth stealing: * Wonder vs. empathy. Wonder looks at something from the outside (what does it look like?); empathy stands inside it (what does it feel like?). Good work comes in moving between the two. * “Yes, and” is the whole job. When a client insists the logo has to be blue, David says yes — to the goal — then proposes a different way there. Most bad creative calls are just fear of being wrong. * Process is a runway, not the whole flight. You need it to take off and to land. In between, you have to actually fly. We loved every minute of David’s insights about creativity and the creative process, and we hope you do, too. Happy Friday. —The Andrews In this episode: * David Somerville, founder of the creative consulting firm Smrvl™️ * Brand Deck This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit productfridays.substack.com

    26 min
  2. Introducing The Andrew Company

    Jan 16

    Introducing The Andrew Company

    Folks, we did the dang thing. After six years of friendship, three years of consulting together, and 10 beautiful months of Friday podcasting — The Andrews are officially joining forces to create The Andrew Company. (Here’s our official launch video — shot in Phelps's daughter’s playroom.) We have two goals: * Create delightful (and opinionated) products together. We love tools that solve specific problems extremely well — apps like Flighty and YNAB. So we’re doubling down. The Andrew Company’s primary output is joyful products (and podcast episodes). We’re already at work on Re:verb, Bandwagon, and Sous Chef. * Help companies, big and small, take ideas from a blank whiteboard to v1.0. Starting is hard! We make it easy. We help teams turn early ideas into first versions of real products or new lines of business — from places like CNN and The Washington Post to startups like Till Financial. In this episode, we walk through why we decided to join forces and how we worked through our differences as co-founders. This is a big step for us. And we have to say — we’re very grateful to all of you. Product Fridays, in some ways, is the beta version of The Andrew Company. This community, and your feedback, has been invaluable in helping us decide what matters most for our business and working lives. Thanks for being part of it. And here’s to many more Fridays to come. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit productfridays.substack.com

    25 min
5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Andrew McGill and Andrew Phelps talk creativity, emerging tech, and the art of building great products. Subscribe for weekly inspiration and insights. productfridays.substack.com