Second Brain

Three “Ugly” Graphics Got 480K Impressions

The Story

Charlie used Google Gemini to create handwritten whiteboard-style infographics. They looked rough, like someone sketched them on a whiteboard with a marker. No polish, no brand colors, no design system.

Three of these posts generated 479,976 impressions, ranking as his 19th, 31st, and 63rd best-performing posts ever. For context, he generates roughly 500,000 impressions per week. Three “ugly” posts nearly matched a full week’s output.

Why did they work? They broke the pattern. LinkedIn feeds are full of clean, branded carousels. A hand-drawn infographic stops the scroll because it looks different from everything around it. It also signals authenticity: this person drew something to explain an idea, not to impress you with design.

Each graphic took under 10 minutes to produce using Gemini. He chose Gemini over ChatGPT because it handles complex infographic layouts better and maintains consistent handwritten styling.

Lesson for Creators

Polish is not a competitive advantage when everyone is polished. Pattern interruption is. The “ugly” whiteboard style works precisely because it contrasts with the professionalized look of most LinkedIn content. This is a broader principle: when the default quality level rises (thanks to tools like Canva and AI), the way to stand out is often to go in the opposite direction. And the production speed (under 10 minutes) means you can test many variations at near-zero cost.

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