Davey & Krista

Hello Reader, What colors are trending in 2024? Think...Restful. Last year we saw vibrant, playful colors break through the trend of muted neutral palettes. This year, color experts predict rich, balanced colors to step into the forefront with soft pinks, soothing blues, and deep nature tones. ⁠ And we're ready. Krista compiled 17 fresh palettes that incorporate the top colors of 2024, including the Pantone Color of the Year, Benjamin Moore Color of the Year, and Dutch Boy color trends. Is...

Hi Reader This week's issue is a little different from our usual AI workflow content, but stay with me, because the process translates directly to your design work. I've been experimenting with using my own hand-painted artwork as the foundation for Midjourney generations. Not stock images, not mood boards pulled from Pinterest. My actual paintings, photographed on my phone, fed into the workflow. The goal was to see if I could get Midjourney to generate new artwork that genuinely felt like...

Hi Reader Last week I shared how I'm using Claude Cowork to build Canva graphics for me. This week I want to walk you through something a little more advanced, because I know a lot of you are running your own Meta ads and feeling the weight of how tedious the setup can be. I have been letting Claude Cowork load my Meta ads. Before I go any further, I want to say this plainly. If you are going to let Claude load your Meta ads, you need to know how to check the work. You do not want to walk...

Hi Reader If you have ever stared down a list of near-identical Canva graphics and thought, "there has to be a better way," this email is for you. Davey coaches our local lacrosse team, and the boys ran a fundraiser where each player collected sponsors for a specific day on the calendar. My job was to create thank-you graphics for every sponsor, on every day. Alternating colors, different names, different details. In a past life, I would have sat down and made them all by hand. Instead, I...

Hi Reader, Okay, this one's a little different from our usual lessons — but stick with me, because it's genuinely useful, especially if you have brand photos or headshots coming up. Have you heard of getting your "colors done"? It's a service where a stylist holds different fabric swatches up to your face to figure out which colors actually flatter your skin tone. Sounds lovely. Also, there aren't a lot of people offering it locally, and when you do find someone, it's not cheap. So last week...

Hi Reader, I sent this email out earlier with the wrong linked prompt. Here is the correct one — Affiliate revenue is one of those things that sounds passive until you actually try to create the content for it — and then it starts to feel like a whole project. That's why this week I built a tool to help you put together on-brand product review posts in a fraction of the time. Here's the thing about affiliate blog posts: you write one, share it once (or a few times), maybe pin it, maybe send...

Hi Reader, Affiliate revenue is one of those things that sounds passive until you actually try to create the content for it — and then it starts to feel like a whole project. That's why this week I built a tool to help you put together on-brand product review posts in a fraction of the time. Here's the thing about affiliate blog posts: you write one, share it once (or a few times), maybe pin it, maybe send it to your list — and then it just quietly does its job for years. People are always...

Hi Reader, Okay, confession: my Google Drive is a disaster. I'm the person who opens it, starts a new file, and drops it... nowhere. For ten years. Which means I've been sitting on a mountain of unnamed docs, random folders, and "where did that go?" moments every time I need to find something. This week I finally decided to do something about it — using Claude Cowork. Here's how it went (and how you can do it too). Step 1: Get Google Drive on your computer the smart way Before you can point...

Hi Reader, I'll preface this email with an apology for my voice! I'm recovering from a virus. There's a Claude feature I've been testing that I wasn't sure what to make of at first. It's called Claude Cowork, and it's a desktop app—meaning it actually lives on your computer, not just in a browser tab. That difference matters more than I expected. Here's what it can do that the regular version can't: it can see your screen, access your files, and take action on your computer. Not in a creepy...

Hi Reader, When I was ten, one of my paintings hung in the Maryland State House. I got to meet the lieutenant governor. Wear a nice dress. Feel very important for approximately three hours. And then I spent the next eight years convinced that art wasn't a real career path. By high school, art felt like a childhood hobby I'd outgrown. I was going to be an attorney or a journalist—something practical. I loved government class, loved the logic of debate, loved building arguments that made sense...

Hi Reader, One of the most underutilized SEO strategies I see creative entrepreneurs miss is this: taking past testimonials and turning them into full case study blog posts. Why does this matter? Because case studies serve double duty—they build trust with potential clients AND they significantly improve both your traditional SEO and your GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) ranking. When AI search tools are looking for real examples and proof of results, detailed case studies give them...