Creativity in 2026

How do we stay creative in a dystopian society? Designing in today’s world almost feels counterproductive. When we sit at our desks, filming instagram videos about “the newest AI tool that will change your life” or “26 design trends to look for in 2026”, what are we actually contributing to a creative society? This isn’t to invalidate or judge, but to hopefully inspire people to reconsider why they create.

In my junior year of high school, a friend and I had started making jewelry out of vintage toys and charms. I was in charge of designing the logo and website, and she would make the jewelry. I remember sitting in my basement for hours trying to build the website, find a font that would be perfect, making logo variations, social media posts, etc. This was when I first experienced the creative rush. I was creating for the sake of exploration and curiosity. Covid hit and our hobby fizzled out. But, I would stay creating. I was designing apps on Adobe XD, exploring the wild west of InDesign and Illustrator. I even had an internship to redesign a 200 page document for a grad-student publishing her thesis. I was creating without self judgement and best of all — no AI.

Tactile design and physical media brings work to life. We, as human beings have the ability to make others feel things, to evoke emotions, both positive and negative. If every ad, billboard, logo, website and newsletter is artificial, we aren’t connecting with anyone but a robot who’s quickly destroying the environment.

We are people who were made to connect with other people. Yes, AI makes everything streamlined and can feel more efficient. But that’s exactly what makes it difficult to take a moment and connect with others.