Thoughts on AI as a Graphic Designer
I haven’t weighed in much on the many (many!) conversations around AI.
I also haven’t researched it in great depth and can only speak from personal experience as a freelance Graphic Designer (specialising in logos and branding).
I can’t avoid the chats, however, and I go between thinking, ‘it’ll be grand’, and, ‘we’re all doooooomed’, quite regularly. For the most part, I bury my head in the sand and focus on my work and what I can control day to day.
Today, I am mainly in the ‘we’ll be ok’ camp. This is partly due to the last couple of weeks. I’ve caught up with past clients, current clients, and other ‘creatives’ within our industry, and when all is said and done, the same topic arises – we ALL need help outside of our own expertise and businesses.
Web developers aren’t confident in their design skills. Graphic designers want to run away from anything to do with coding. Businesses aren’t sure where to start with their branding and marketing.
The businesses we help often have lots of ideas and need extra expertise to plan, prioritise, and, of course, execute the work. The magic in all of this tends to be in human-to-human conversations, where a side comment or afterthought might flourish into a serious plan or goal.
And so, after a hectic few weeks of chatting with people from various industries, I am choosing to be optimistic about the future of graphic design (for now).
I choose to see AI as a tool, but expertise will still be required to get started, and the support that professionals offer should not be overlooked or undervalued. If you’ve worked with a designer in the past, you’ll know what I’m talking about – the beauty of human connection.
Depending on the project, support can range from providing guidelines in an easy-to-implement document, tutorials for updating and managing your website, phrases to keep your branding on track, tools to increase your brand assets with ease, etc. But most importantly, it’s having someone with the right experience to guide your project (and business) in the right direction.
I often tell people (honestly!) that design is about communication, not solely aesthetics, and that good communication always starts with a genuine chat.
Am I annoyed that at times it feels like Adobe is using our subscription fees to finance the downfall of our industry? Absolutely!
Does the advancement in AI stress me out at times? Yup!
Do I use AI myself? Eh, yeah (not for the design side of things - idea generation and logo creation are still old school for me, so much so that I still start with pen and paper.)
Do I think graphic design will survive as long as customer service is part of our business? Yeah, I do!
This rant will either age really well or really badly – I guess time will tell. Until then, I’m going to choose to ‘keep swimming’ (quote from Dory, the wisest fish of the sea) and keep my head down, do the work and support my clients and their businesses any way I can.
If you need help from a graphic designer, then get in touch for down to earth, personalised human support - HERE
