Agency or Freelance in the Age of AI? - Barry Baris Dogan

EP 73. In this episode I talk with Barry Baris Dogan, a multidisciplinary designer and Webflow partner based in Vienna. After years at a 400-person agency, Barry is starting his own studio. He says he has zero doubts and zero fear about the future with AI. We talk about what agency life teaches you, why big companies are slow to change, and why he thinks designers and developers are becoming art directors. We also cover whether an AI-generated site has already won Site of the Day, building Webflow sites from a Figma design system with the Webflow MCP, and whether Figma still has a place. Then Webflow itself: div renamed to box, the missing European servers, and whether Source is for freelancers at all. Barry explains why most SaaS websites look the same, how many options to show a client, and how a master's in space architecture led him here. Check out Barry Baris Dogan:   / barisdogan   Also mentioned: Timothy Ricks: https://www.timothyricks.com/ Dennis Snellenberg: https://dennissnellenberg.com/ Ilja van Eck: https://www.iljavaneck.com/ Joseph Berry episode:    • Years of Practice, No Shortcuts - Joseph B...   Jordan Gilroy episode:    • Advantage of Doing Both Design & Dev - Jor...   Stephen Wise episode:    • What Does a Webflow Agency Sell Now? - Ste...   Kyle Lambert episode:    • Designing Source by Webflow - Kyle Lambert   Osmo: https://www.osmo.supply/ Source by Webflow: https://webflow.com/source Spline: https://spline.design/ Chapters 00:00 How long until AI wins Site of the Day? 01:53 Should award sites limit AI? 04:10 Do deep technical skills still matter? 06:50 Intro 07:40 From architecture to Webflow 10:08 Leaving Loop for his own studio 12:17 Agency life, and fighting to bring in Webflow 20:39 Design first, then build with the Webflow MCP 22:52 Is Figma still the right tool? 25:34 Real content with AI, and where the design system lives 29:12 Astro, and what clients actually need 32:56 Div to box, and still no European servers 36:31 Is Source for us? 42:10 Lumos in Figma and Webflow 44:30 Starting with why the client needs a site 46:22 Why most SaaS websites look the same 49:10 One option or three, and trusting your designer 53:43 A moon project, and 3D on websites 58:38 Can taste be outsourced to AI? 01:01:06 "We don't need designers anymore" 01:03:10 Where to find Barry 01:04:12 The Finnish Line -- 🙋‍♂️ About Janne I'm Janne, a freelance Webflow developer and podcast host based in Finland. On this channel, I talk to agency owners, award-winning designers, and experienced builders about the business and strategy side of creative work. I also try out new apps, exciting features and share what I learn from my journey. -- 🎙️ About Webflow and Friends Webflow and Friends is my interview show for the Webflow community. Every episode I talk to a different designer, developer, or agency owner about how they actually work: what they build, how they price it, what they've changed their mind about, and what's annoying them in the tooling right now. -- 🛠️ Tools I Use (Some might be affiliate links, but all are genuine recommendations.) AI Claude - https://claude.ai/ Web Design Figma - https://www.figma.com/ Affinity suite - https://affinity.serif.com/ Web Development Webflow - https://webflow.com/ Relume - https://www.relume.io/ Finsweet Attributes - https://finsweet.com/attributes Consent Pro - https://consentpro.com/ Content Creation Riverside - https://riverside.fm/ Claude - https://claude.ai/ Productivity Todoist - https://www.todoist.com/ Rize - https://rize.io Claude - https://claude.ai/