I'm not a designer.
If you put me in front of a blank canvas, I'd struggle. But I like to think I have reasonable taste. I know what "clean" looks like. I know when a slide deck feels professional and when it feels cluttered. And I have people around me—like my wife—who has an even sharper eye for aesthetics.
The challenge has always been translation. How do you get the idea out of your head and onto the screen without spending years mastering design software?
Recently, I've found a workflow that works. It isn't about replacing the creative process; it's about using code to iterate through it.
Here is how I used my development environment to design my new business cards and slide decks.
Designing With Context
Opening a new design file usually means starting from zero. You have to re-define your colours, your fonts, and your spacing.
Instead, I ran my design queries inside Visual Studio Code, right alongside my existing website code. Because the codebase already holds the "DNA" of my business—my specific hex colours, my spacing rules, my font weights—the output is immediately grounded in reality.
When I asked for a business card layout, the system pulled the variables from my site and applied them to a 90mm x 55mm canvas. It meant the "Plain Logic" brand felt consistent, whether it was on a website or a physical card.
The "Toggle" Method
Instead of generating static images, I had the system build a simple HTML page with toggles that allowed me to switch between different layouts instantly.
I could click a button and see "Option 1: Bold Vertical Type." Click again: "Option 2: Oversized Slashes."
This reframed the problem from creation to curation. It allowed me to iterate rapidly. I could pick the two or three versions that resonated most, even if I couldn't articulate exactly why at first.
Finding the Vocabulary
Sometimes I'd look at three options and know that Option 3 was the winner, but I couldn't explain the design theory behind it. So I reversed the question.
I asked: "Conceptually, what is unique about this option compared to the others?"
It explained that a certain layout used negative space to draw the eye, or that a specific alignment created better hierarchy. This gave me the vocabulary I needed. Suddenly, I could give specific feedback like, "Keep the negative space, but adjust the accent colour."
The Feedback Loop
This speed allows for genuine collaboration. Because I can spin up an HTML page in seconds, I can put it in front of my wife or a client and get instant reactions.
We're not looking at a precious artifact that took ten hours to render. We are looking at rapid iterations. If something feels off, we change it.
It turns design into a conversation rather than a confrontation. You can see the result in the image below—a clean, consistent identity that feels like "me," built without ever opening Photoshop.
Good design doesn't always require outstanding talent — just a tight feedback loop.