Dear curious creature,
In the late 1800s, Auguste Escoffier revolutionised the culinary world with his ‘Brigade de Cuisine’ method.
Before him, professional kitchens were a mess because everyone did everything. Escoffier fixed this by introducing specialised work stations.
One person made the sauces, another made the pastry, and another operated the rotisserie.
What was once chaos become a high-performance machine.
Many creative professionals today still treat AI like a pre-Escoffier kitchen.
To unlock its true potential, you must stop treating it as a generic tool and start treating it as a specialised member of your ‘creative brigade.’
At each stage of your creative project, ensure you switch your AI between these four distinct roles:
1. The Muse
At the start, the blank page is your biggest enemy. Think of The Muse as your partner for divergent thinking, helping you get past the obvious initial ideas.
Pro Tip: Use Negative Constraints. Don’t just ask for ideas; tell the AI what not to do. By banning the obvious analogies, you force the model to reach for more obscure associations.
Example Prompt: Give me 15 concepts for a luxury watch campaign. Constraint: Do not mention ‘heritage,’ ‘craftsmanship,’ or ‘timelessness.’ Make the ideas weird and avant-garde.
2. The Editor
This role is about improving and polishing your ideas. To get the best results, you need to give it a specific stylistic direction, not just ask it to ‘make this better.’
Pro Tip: Create specific constraints. Instead of asking for a rewrite, give it a specific word count, a clear tone of voice, or a forbidden word list.
Example Prompt: Rewrite this intro for an aspirational audience. Use short, punchy sentences. Avoid the words’ passionate,’ ‘innovative,’ and ‘solution.’ Aim for a Hemingway-esque economy of words.
3. The Critic
AI is naturally a ‘people-pleaser,’ which makes it a poor critic by default. To get ‘honest’ feedback, you have to give the AI permission to be harsh and specific.
Pro Tip: Assign a specific persona. Ask for a critique from a specific perspective, like a Creative Director, a sceptical Gen Z consumer, or a minimalist designer.
Example Prompt: Act as a cynical Creative Director. Tell me three reasons why this campaign concept feels derivative or might not resonate with our target audience.
4. The Producer
The Producer handles the grunt work. It takes your final thoughts and formats them perfectly, saving you time for more important creative work.
Pro Tip: Define the output format. Don’t just ask for a summary. Ask for a specific structure, e.g., a written brief, a bullet point list, or a series of creative executions in different formats.
Example Prompt: Turn these fragmented brainstorm notes into a structured creative brief with a clear timeline and deliverables.
The overall message?
AI doesn’t replace you, the creator.
Rather, it acts more like a co-pilot, supporting you and doing the heavy lifting so you can focus on the more interesting and creative aspects of your job.
As you embark on your next creative project, be sure to try the tips and prompts above.
Chris & the 42courses team x
