this post might feel unexpected, but no one's really talking about it, so i will. a lot of designers are struggling to land new clients right now. if that's you, you are not alone. i'm dealing with the same thing myself. i've talked to 50+ designer friends in my circle, and more than 80% of them are facing this exact issue. if you're still convinced ai has nothing to do with it, i'd ask you to rethink that. it's definitely one of the reasons clients are harder to come by. here's an example. we designed a full website and brand identity for an ai company. banger animations, the kind that make you fall in love with it. they paid well for it too. three months later, they rebuilt the entire site using an ai builder. the new version is sloppy, easily one of the roughest a tool like that can produce. and they're completely fine with it. they're not the only ones. plenty of founders feel the same way. maybe it's the ai hype, maybe it's about saving money, maybe it's something else entirely. but it's happening. there are still designers and agencies landing new clients consistently, usually because of their network, name, or following. but a large number of us are getting hit hard by this shift. no one knows how long this lasts, or if it's a temporary wave or a real shift in how the industry works. i'm not trying to predict that far ahead. i'd rather focus on what's happening right now. some old clients are trickling back. i'm still earning more than i did at my full time job, but nowhere close to what i made last year. so i'm trying new things. i've started posting 4 to 5 times a day across multiple platforms. let's see where that goes. this isn't meant to discourage anyone. it's meant to remind you that you're not alone, since i've spoken with a lot of designers who were seriously questioning their choices lately. be strong, keep going. hoping we all get through this ai wave and start earning well again.