A non-tech founder’s 6-hour poster saga: what I tried, what failed, and the workflow that finally worked.

This post is about designing a poster for this event: Working with the IRS in 2026: Michael J. Desmond · Luma

Why I’m writing this

I'm not a designer. I needed a poster fast—one that looked credible for a high-signal event. This is the workflow I wish I'd had from the start.

What I tried first

1) “Let ChatGPT just make a poster”

I asked ChatGPT to generate a poster. The result was… not usable.

I tried many prompt variations, but that was the best it got. So I decided to try something else.

2) Re-using my old banner as a base

I thought: “I already have something. I’ll just tweak it.”

But the tiny text and white background felt flat.

At that point I also realized I didn’t even know how to remove the background from photos.

The decision point: ask for the simplest viable approach

I asked ChatGPT: