Take five with POV Budapest: OpenAI on why human craft still matters

When your product has 800 million weekly active users, every design decision carries unprecedented weight. That’s the reality for Shannon Jager and Cary Hudson, Design Directors at OpenAI, who shared their approach on stage at POV Budapest in September 2025 (get tickets for POV 2026 here). Following the company’s first major rebrand – complete with a custom typeface, redesigned ‘blossom’ logo, and the ‘emotive point’ users see when interacting with ChatGPT – their team has been defining what it means to design at the intersection of human craft and artificial intelligence. From collaborating with Dinamo and Studio Dumbar to determining what’s worth making by hand when AI can generate almost anything, Jager and Hudson’s work centres on a singular challenge: helping people see possibility instead of complexity, turning the abstract and unfamiliar into something approachable and deeply human. TBI: Hey Shannon and Cary! How are you both feeling, post-POV Budapest 2025? SJ: I had a great time at the event, and it was an honour to take the stage. Spending time with other creative peers was so valuable. I left feeling grateful, energised and proud. The experience felt like an honest reflection of our team’s craft and thinking.