Creative direction / AI-assisted product design

Good ideas. Made useful.

Practical creative direction and help with AI. For your business or your own project.

Explore a first step See the method
Video + AI training
  • 01Ideas made visible
  • 02AI-assisted exploration
  • 03Human judgment
Fig. 01 / Possibility engine Live study
Drag to rotate / Click to pulse
Scroll to develop the idea

Portfolio / Rev. 1.0 / October 2026

01 / Method

Understand it.
Give it shape.
Put it to the test.

You know what you want to improve. You don’t need to know every AI tool.

Tell me what you’d like to improve. I’ll help you work out where AI could be useful, shape the idea and develop a practical next step.

Fig. 02 / The method Live index

01 / Notice000%

Notice Shape Prove Ship

Observe, shape, test and refine. Return to an earlier step when needed.

01Observe

Understand
what’s there.

Look at the business or project, who it is for and the parts that need attention.

Output

Observations · constraints · a clear problem

02Shape

Give the idea
a shape.

Use sketches, layouts and visual blueprints to make the possibilities easier to discuss.

Output

Concepts · visual direction · a practical plan

03Prove

Try a
useful version.

Choose a focused mockup or prototype, then test what it helps us understand.

Output

Prototype · feedback · next-step decision

04Ship

Decide what
comes next.

Review the result, document what works and agree what needs further development or specialist help.

Output

Findings · handover notes · next steps

Keep the next step clear. Then build on what we learn.

02 / Evidence

Ideas
in practice.

Four independent development studies exploring systems, visual direction and ways of working with AI.

These are development studies, rather than client case studies or finished commercial products.

05 This site is another exploration: developing a personal identity through design, motion and iteration.

Project notes outline the idea, approach and current stage. The illustrations are conceptual and do not demonstrate live functionality.

03 / Practice

Where I
can help.

Two areas of work: business growth and personal project development.

For independent businesses: review your offer, digital presence or workflows and develop practical improvements. For personal projects: turn an early idea into a clearer concept, visual plan or focused prototype.

Fig. 03 / Capability board 01 / 06
Business & workflow reviews Hover / focus to inspect

04 / The human part

A creative eye.
A practical head.
A human approach.

My background is in retail management, including work on shop experience and visual identity.

Editorial portrait of Shawn Cutler, created with AI assistance from his reference photographs
Shawn Cutler Portrait study 03 / AI-assisted, from reference photographs

I’m Shawn. I’m drawn to the point where a loose idea starts becoming something you can see, question and use.

I like developing the whole picture: how something looks, how it behaves and how people experience it. AI tools help me explore and build; my role is to direct the work and evaluate the result.

“I’ll take your ideas seriously and tell you where I think they need work.”

How I work
Practice
Independent, collaborative and hands-on.
Background
Retail management & hands-on business redevelopment.
Method
Visual concepts, practical experiments and careful review.
Useful when
You can see room for improvement but need help shaping the next step.
Off the clock
Animals, old films, timber, leather and things with a bit of history.

Curious by nature. Practical about the next step.

05 / Start here

An idea
in mind? Start here.

Three questions to help organise your thoughts before a conversation.

Conversation starter 01 / 03

Question 01

What are you trying
to change?

Pick the closest. We can refine it later.

Question 02

What exists
today?

A few notes or an early idea are enough.

Question 03

What timing do
you have in mind?

This helps frame the conversation. It is not a delivery commitment.

Select one to continue

Specialist services

Practical skills.
Finished work.

Two focused services for people who need something made, or want to learn how to make better use of the tools available to them.

Service 01 / EditFootage → finished

Professional Video Editing

From raw footage to something worth watching.

Thoughtful editing for businesses, creators and independent projects. From longer-form stories and promotional videos to shorts: shaping pacing and structure, refining audio, adding captions and preparing content ready for delivery. Bring your raw footage or a rough creative brief.

  • Long-form editing
  • Short-form content
  • Audio refinement
  • Captions
  • Creative presentation
Discuss a video project
Service 02 / LearnPrompt → practice

Interactive AI Training

Less theory. More doing.

Interactive, guided learning via Discord for individuals and small teams. Work through hands-on challenges, practical prompting and creative or office workflows. Experiment with useful automation, ask questions and learn to evaluate the results with your own judgment.

  • AI fundamentals
  • Effective prompting
  • Creative workflows
  • Practical automation
  • Evaluating results
Enquire about AI training

06 / Contact

Let’s make
the useful
version.

If you have an idea to explore or something you’d like to improve, let’s talk it through.

shawn@cutler.ink
Start a conversation
Currently

Developing this independent practice and exploring suitable first projects.

Working style

Clear conversations, visual ideas and practical next steps.

What happens next

An initial conversation about what you need, what I can contribute and whether we’re a good fit.

Bring the idea. / We’ll work out a sensible next step.

Back to signal
Case file / 001

Character design / AI news media

Afterimage

An interactive AI-driven news host developed through character design, 3D exploration and broadcast prototyping. Created as an original virtual presenter for trusted-news and information delivery.

Identity → Expression → Broadcast → Presenter

Premise

Create an original AI-assisted news presenter with a distinctive visual identity, an expressive on-screen presence and a credible place within a professional information format.

Approach

Develop the host through character and wardrobe exploration, low-poly and 3D modelling, expression and mesh refinement, and a prototype interactive broadcast environment shaped around live information delivery.

Project material

The project combines character development, stage and interface concepts, presenter visuals and interaction studies. The work explores how AI can support a more engaging and recognisable form of digital news presentation.

Outcome

A complete project study for an interactive virtual news host, with a character and broadcast-stage prototype designed around news and information from trusted sources.
Case file / 002

Signal instrument / Live analysis

Obelisk

A multi-stream observation deck for monitoring live video feeds, real-time audience activity and revenue signals with more useful definitions behind the numbers.

Feeds → Measures → Patterns → Insight

Premise

Build a clearer way to observe multiple live streams at once, combining video, chat activity, support signals and viewer behaviour into a more meaningful picture of what is actually happening.

Approach

Design a multi-stream dashboard that tracks real-time chat, audience movement and support metrics, while applying clearer measurement logic to expose patterns and conclusions closer to the truth.

Project material

The project combines telemetry design, interface systems, metric definitions and live observation tooling. Readable platform signals and derived measures turn noisy data into clearer operational insight.

Outcome

A multi-stream monitoring prototype that brings viewer, engagement and income signals into one observational framework, with explicit definitions behind its readouts.
Case file / 003

Working method / AI direction

Relay

A structured approach to AI-assisted work, designed to turn vague intent into clearer briefs, stronger outputs and more dependable review.

Intent → Direction → Review → Resolution

Premise

Develop a practical method for working with AI tools that makes creative direction clearer, improves handover quality and reduces wasted effort between idea and implementation.

Approach

Use sharper briefs, visual references, defined constraints and deliberate review points to guide AI systems more effectively and keep the work aligned with the intended result.

Project material

Relay brings together prompt structure, workflow design, visual planning and output review into a repeatable decision-making framework for AI-assisted creative and technical work.

Outcome

A repeatable working method that carries creative intent from brief to reviewed output, with clearer context, deliberate handovers and practical checks at each decision point.
Case file / 004

Security research / Systems & QA

Boundary

A security-research instrument designed to identify obvious and less visible weaknesses through controlled, authorised testing before malicious actors or automated attack tooling can exploit them.

Scope → Inspect → Verify → Report

Premise

Create a practical way to examine online systems for security weaknesses early, using controlled workflows that help surface risks before they become someone else’s opportunity.

Approach

Combine allowlisted lab inspection, repeatable testing, evidence gathering and structured review. Examine network, TCP, TLS and HTTP behaviour within an explicitly authorised scope, then repeat checks before drawing conclusions.

Project material

The project brings together inspection tooling, verification steps, controlled test logic and reporting discipline. Reports distinguish observations from confirmed findings and make the evidence traceable.

Outcome

A lab-tested security-research and QA instrument, with a controlled workflow for defensive inspection, repeatable verification and evidence-led reporting within authorised environments.