OLD SCRIPT DETECTED
“My job is just to make it look pretty”
Try this response:
“I can make it look good and still know what I think is stronger.”SEE THE PRACTICE
Build a response for this thought—and one move to prove it.
THE THOUGHT
“My job is just to make it look pretty”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“I can make it look good and still know what I think is stronger.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Pick one old project file, screenshot, or PDF and add a private note beside one decision you would still stand behind today, with one sentence explaining why.
When the mockup gets trimmed back to ornament
The note in the margin
You’re staring at a screen full of labels, spacing, and a color that finally made the layout breathe. Then the comments land: bigger logo, less text, make it cleaner. You can almost feel the work shifting from structure to surface. That’s when My job is just to make it look pretty arrives with a shrug you didn’t choose.
The version you hand over
So you smooth the corners, enlarge the emblem, mute the copy, and send something that’s easy to approve and hard to argue with. It ships looking polished, but flatter. Later, you find yourself skipping the part where you would normally explain why the hierarchy matters. The cost is small and real: you start editing your own judgment before anyone else sees it.
The line you keep in the file
Open a past brief and look for one place where you left your recommendation intact. It can be a note in the margin, a comment in the deck, or a version history entry. If it exists, that is evidence against the thought: you did more than make it pretty, and the record shows you knew what you thought.
TRACE · 01/04
How this script runs you
- You hear “make the logo bigger” and immediately translate it into “my design judgment is secondary.”
- You give three polished options and avoid naming the one you actually think works best.
- You catch yourself calling your own instincts “just taste” before anyone asks for your opinion.
SOURCE_LOCATED · 02/04
The hidden rule underneath
The Client Override
If the client’s preferred edit wins, then your professional read must not have mattered. Better to be the person who makes things look good than the person who risks being overruled.
FORGING_REPLACEMENT · 03/04
Replacement lines (record these)
- I can make it look good and still know what I think is stronger.
- My recommendation counts, even if they choose a different finish.
- I’ll keep one version marked with my actual choice and why I chose it.
Generated per person in the app — these are the flavor, not your script. Yours is built from your exact words.
INSTALL · 04/04
The protocol, on one card
When I think
“My job is just to make it look pretty”
I say
“I can make it look good and still know what I think is stronger.”
Then I do one thing
Pick one old project file, screenshot, or PDF and add a private note beside one decision you would still stand behind today, with one sentence explaining why.
STATUS: READY_TO_INSTALL
Wipe this thought4 minutes. Your voice. Free.
The wipe protocol
- Write the thought exactly as it plays: "My job is just to make it look pretty". Word for word — the wipe targets the sentence, not the vibe.
- Trace the rule and the avoided action. What does this thought conveniently excuse you from doing?
- Record the replacement lines below in your own voice. Speak like you mean it — no recording, no install.
- Run the loop: play it every morning and night, log one proof action a day for 7 days.
Straight answers
What if they always ask for the same kind of changes?
Then the thought has a pattern to feed on. The point isn’t to predict their taste; it’s to keep your own read visible to yourself in writing, so the work doesn’t get reduced to decoration in your head.
Isn’t it safer to just give them what they want?
Sometimes, yes. This thought turns safety into a rule that covers everything. You can still execute the request and privately keep track of where your recommendation differed, instead of erasing it from the record.
What counts as proof without making it a big deal?
Anything ordinary and private: a margin note, a version label, a one-line rationale saved with the file, or a quick comparison of the approved draft against your preferred one. The evidence is that your judgment existed in a form you can point to later.
Related old scripts
Related self-checks
Related science
Researchers to explore
Related mechanisms
The research behind this script
- AIGA Design Census 2022 — AIGA, 2022
- Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Standards — Graphic Artists Guild, 2022