How AI is Influencing Design

In 2022, Generative AI entered the zeitgeist at warp speed with the debut of machine learning technology. Capable of creating new content (as opposed to simply solving defined problems and completing tasks), this latest iteration of artificial intelligence exploded past previous limits of AI.

Like most of our industry peers, the design team here at Weidenhammer initially responded with skepticism and, frankly, some fear. Would artificial intelligence render us moot and take our jobs?  If not, could it functionally and ethically overhaul everything we do?

The AI story is still being written; we don’t claim to know how it ends. However, two notable things have happened under our roof since generative AI blew onto the scene two years back:  

1. The robots haven’t taken our jobs!
2. By leveraging AI to ease and speed up the graphic design process, our design product has gotten better. How? By letting AI handle and streamline non-design work and early stage concepting, we’re able to devote more human hours to the actual graphic design work we excel at and love.  

Are we a little surprised that our design team is actually…happily embracing generative AI? Yes. And also delighted and relieved. So delighted and relieved.

Let’s look closer.

AI In Action Across Graphic Design

As touched on above, generative AI’s inherent value proposition is its ability to make tasks easier and faster by leveraging machine learning to create new visuals, words, and more – quickly, and with astounding effectiveness.  

At Weidenhammer, this promise has come to pass. AI helps us complete defined tasks in much less time than it took when we mere mortals were at the helm. But – and this is the crucial part – AI hasn’t taken over actual design itself. Our Weidenhammer designers limit AI to the daily tasks we prefer not to handle, or need done faster. So far it’s playing out in a few ways that are wins for us and our clients:

• Efficient and effective visual generation of early concepts. Sharing early ideas with clients…fetal, bold, wild kernels of ideas – is part of the early concept phase of most design engagements. In years past, client budgets and timelines rarely afforded us the luxury of creating visual representations of these early ideas via design code. Consequently, we had to share them verbally – not ideal. Enter AI. Thanks to AI efficiency, we can readily create rough visuals of early concepts for our team to toy with, and for our clients to react to. Compared to verbal descriptions of yesteryear, these visual starting points go a long way toward ensuring we’re all on the same page. This new approach also lets us have more constructive conversations with clients earlier in the engagement – all with resounding effects for efficiency and the quality of the final deliverable.
• Easier-to-use tools. Picture swapping an early Model T Ford for a 2024 Aston Martin. Both could take you across town, but one is going to get you there a lot faster and smoother. It’s a solid metaphor for how AI has impacted Adobe products. My coworker Brenda and I recently attended Adobe MAX, the three-day creativity conference hosted by the software giant behind graphic design’s top tools. Unsurprisingly, the conference focused largely on generative AI, and specifically native AI features continually added to Adobe programs – all of which we endorse and use. Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign now feature stellar generative AI functionality; Illustrator’s lets us generate quick icons as vectors much faster than before. InDesign just introduced Generative Expand. Previously, cloning tools were needed to adjust image aspect ratio. With this new InDesign feature, images can be readily extended – a huge time saver. Abode Firefly is a new and AI-specific program that’s also proving helpful to early imagery concepting.
• Making it easier to shine! Some agencies and designers out there do lean on AI for actual design work…much of which ends up looking, yes, like it was designed by a robot rather than a human. Consequently, audiences are becoming more discerning, able to spot the difference between, say, an AI-generated business logo and its human-generated counterpart. With this new and lower standard to compare our work to, human work like Weidenhammer’s is experiencing renewed appreciation and even demand among discerning businesses. “We don’t want a logo designed by AI” is a reason some prospects have given for reaching out to our agency. 

As alluded to above, the inherent danger of AI in design is clear: When leaned on too heavily, AI results in diminished design outcomes and possible commodification of the design field, both of which could jeopardize designer livelihoods and design integrity. However, in our experience so far, AI is actually enabling and illuminating the value of human-driven design. It does this by making related processes faster and easier, letting designers commit more focus and time to the actual design work – which then shines brighter. Ready to entrust your design needs to the team that harnesses AI efficiency to deliver superior visuals created by humans? Let’s Get Started.